Unexpected Revelations
by dem bones
Summary: In the year 2050, androids meshing with society is a normal thing. Humanity has become completely dependent on them for their needs, a world that some believe could only happen in dreams. How do four humans get by in this utopia? This is an Android and Human Swap AU that swaps most androids and humans with some exceptions Feat: Hannor, Kara/Luther, Simon/Markus/North love triangle.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Unexpected Revelations

Author: dem bones

Genres: Sci-fi/Adventure

Pairings: Eventual Kara/Luther, Connor/Hank, Simon/Markus/North love triangle

Summary: AU. In the year 2050, androids meshing with society is a normal thing. Humanity has become completely dependent on them for their needs, a world that some believe could only happen in dreams. How do four humans get by in this utopia?

Warnings: AU, OCS, OOC! cast with good reason, SLASH, maybe some implied femmeslash with minor characters, Character deaths, Abusive relationships, Suicide themes, major violence, Cannibalism

Disclaimer: I do not own Detroit Become Human.

Chapter 1:

Inside Detroit police headquarters, a young man with short brown hair and brown eyes made his way to the receptionist desk. He wore a freshly ironed black suit and pants.

"Excuse me, can I help you?" said a young woman with brown hair tied back in a brown ponytail.

"I work here and need access to my office?"

"Do you have authorization?"

"Yes," The man said handing her his card.

She took it scanning it in a reader behind the desk before handing the card back to him.

"It's a shame they don't have androids doing all of the dirty work. I guess the police wanted to hire some humans to pitch in."

The man was silent.

"Not much for small talk eh?"

"It's not that, I guess I'm what you call socially awkward."

"Nonsense, we should chat again some time. I'm just new around here but I think we can become very good friends. Wanna get a coffee sometime?"

"Coffee has a high caffeine content so I'll have to pass."

"Nothing wrong with wanting to stay awake for a little longer."

"There have been studies that say that ingesting high amounts of caffeine content are linked to health problems later in life."

"Oh that's a shame. Maybe some other time."

Connor walked to the automated gate that was blocked off by two yellow grates before opening the glass doors in back to access headquarters.

"Connor!"

The voice came from a large built brown skinned man wearing a black suit and tea.

Captain Fowler was calling to him.

He beckoned for him with his left index finger.

"Yes, Captain?"

"We need to talk."

Connor followed him inside his office.

An old man with clean cut greyish blonde hair stood standing behind him wearing a suit and tie.

"What is it, captain?" Connor asked.

Fowler coughed in his hand.

"There's someone I want you to meet."

Connor looked at him with a raised left brow.

"Lieutenant, this is your new partner fresh from the police academy."

Fowler glanced at the old man.

The old man stepped around the desk and held out his hand.

"Hank Anderson, pleasure to meet you."

Connor ignored his outstretched hand and turned to Captain Fowler.

"Is there a problem Lieutenant Bourne?"

"I think you don't seem to understand something, captain. I have and always will work alone."

Hank frowned.

"Out of the question," Fowler said. "Lieutenant, I get it really I do. I've only let you brood for as long as you have because no one at the station is willing to work with you. You're stubborn, cold and difficult to work with but everyone is assigned a partner at our station."

"B-but," Connor stammered.

"No exceptions," Fowler said gruffly.

Connor sighed.

Hank smiled smugly before he walked past Connor clapping his hand on his shoulder.

"Cheer up, Lieutenant. I'm certain we'll get along swell."

Connor was certain he could sense the amusement radiating off of him.

He followed the man outside finding him standing beside his desk.

"So where's my desk?" Hank asked.

Connor motioned to the desk on the other side of his. It was cleared off and empty after his last partner had transferred to another department.

A tall man with grey hair approached him.

"Lieutenant, someone just called in a homicide."

"Thanks, Ben."

Hank took the seat across from him.

"So your name is Connor Bourne?"

"Yeah."

Hank smiled.

"How did someone like you become a lieutenant at such a young age?"

"A lot of studying."

"You don't seem to be the type that would enjoy it."

"What type of person would you envision taking this kind of job?"

"Captain Fowler told me you are a part of the homicide division so you must look at a lot of dead bodies everyday. That kind of thing takes a toll on a man. Only a special kind of man can endure that kind of thing."

Connor glanced at the information Ben had sent him in the file.

It was of the murder of a HK600 in the house of 34 year old Jake Batt. The man was brown skinned with a thin build.

He handed the file to Hank.

"Looks like there's been a homicide on 6413 Pines Street."

"Well what are you waiting for, Bourne? Let's go."

Connor and Hank headed out.

Once arriving at the crime scene, the two left their patrol car and walked past the yellow holographic caution tape.

Ben was already there.

"Lieutenant Bourne, I trust you've been briefed about the case."

"Yes, an android's been murdered right?"

"Yeah you could call it that if you deem an android as a person."

The two men followed him inside leading them to the kitchen where the body of a hispanic man laid unconscious on the floor. A good portion of his head had been destroyed leaving traces of circuitry.

"It looks like he was attacked with a blunt object," Hank said.

"But why? To what purpose?"

Connor walked around the house coming across a picture frame. An old military photo of him and his old companions.

Next to the photograph were a couple of empty prescription bottles of prazosin and zoloft.

'Anti-depressants and insomnia medication.'

Connor walked into one of the bedrooms.

On the bedside table was an appointment card with a therapist.

Connor sighed.

He turned to find Hank who was standing in the hall.

"I think the assailant may still be here."

"What makes you think that, Anderson?" Connor asked.

"Well they're not in the back and..."

Hank looked up.

"That looks like a door to the attic doesn't it?"

"Yeah."

"I'll get a chair."

Hank left and returned minutes later with a chair in his hand.

Connor got up on the chair and pushed the secret door open hoisting himself up into the attic. He held out his hand to Hank who also got up on the chair. Hank clasped his hand as Connor pulled him up.

In the attic was alot of clutter.

Connor and Hank held out their guns cautiously looking around the attic for signs of the culprit. It was quiet making the atmosphere unsettling.

Passing some cabinets, Connor spotted the culprit, Jake Batt holding a gun at him.

"Lieutenant!"

"Don't move or I'll shoot."

Hank stood stark still. He noticed the person had his left hand covered in crimson colored cloth and his stomach was equally covered with blood colored clothing like he had been stabbed.

"Drop your guns...slowly."

Connor and Hank slowly crouched dropped their guns.

"Now kick them over here."

The Lieutenant proceeded to do so.

"Listen can you tell us what happened? Why are you holed up here?"

"I-I don't know."

Jake's eyes were cloudy. This wasn't the effects of red ice.

"You had to have known it would look more incriminating if you stayed," Connor said. "Why didn't you leave this place?"

"I don't know. You're trying to confuse me."

He squinted.

"Listen do I know you from somewhere you look very familiar."

"Who?" Hank asked but Jake wasn't looking at him.

"I don't have any idea what you're talking about," Connor said. "It must be a trick of the light."

Jake seemed confused by that.

Connor used that moment to kick the gun out of his hands.

Hank kicked the gun away. Jake flung his hand at Connor who had instantly caught it in his hand hurling him to the ground. Connor placed the handcuffs on his wrists.

Hank scouted the place.

"Looks like that bat might be the blunt object that we're looking for."

He pulled out a baseball bat.

The two ushered the culprit below.

"Reed, Miller, Collins, we found our suspect," Connor said.

The suspect was taken to the hospital for his stab wounds before they returned to the precinct. In the next few days, they'd be expecting the suspect back for interrogation.

"Well, I'm going to turn in for the night. I'll see you tomorrow, Anderson," Connor said before checking out for the night.

The next morning, Connor headed to the precinct to catch up on paperwork.

Hank caught him later working on his computer.

"Morning Lieutenant."

Connor was silent looking very absorbed in what he was doing.

"Got you some breakfast at my son's favorite spot in town."

"Thanks for the food, Anderson."

He didn't even look at the food.

"You shouldn't thank me for food you might not even like."

Connor looked up at him glancing at him in confusion.

"Huh?"

Hank rolled his eyes.

"Look at your food."

Connor spotted the food on his desk for the first time. It was a fried chicken wings and french fries.

He sighed.

"The chicken is loaded with cholestrol and fries have a high fat content. Are you trying to fatten me up? I get that we haven't got along on the right foot and everything but I didn't know that you wanted to kill me that bad."

Hank snorted.

"So you can joke around and here I thought you were a more stuffy kind of guy."

"I never claimed I wasn't funny, Anderson," Connor said. "I merely lack social skills."

Hank frowned.

"You're being deliberately obtuse."

"Well what about you? You said you had a son right?"

"Yeah, his name is Cole. He's turning 24 in December."

"What does he do for a living?"

"He's the assistant CEO of Cyberlife."

"Oh he's the one responsible for creating all those androids right?"

"In a matter of speaking."

"I've been reading up on Cyberlife. I've heard they've made a lot of developments with human and android integration in the recent years. Even taking requests to make custom androids for their customers to make them appear more humanlike."

"Well my son told me that some people are looking to replicate people who have been gone from their life. I guess it's a means of escapism. The more the android looks like the person they know the more they can imagine that the android is the one that they love."

"Still what would happen if the android can't fill that hole."

Connor frowned, his eyes elsewhere. His eyebrows furrowed like whatever he was thinking about caused him great pain.

Hank looked at him with soft eyes.

"Enough about that. How did you find yourself working for the police?"

"It was something to do. After I got my law degree I didn't really know my calling in life.

"Yeah, it gave me something to do since I had joined the military after I got my law degree."

"What'd you minor in?"

"Pharmacology."

"So you know your way around drugs then?"

"I guess you can say that. It's helped me in alot of drug related cases that for sure."

"Do you have any hobbies?"

"Well I've been known to dabble in some judo. Whenever I'm bored I find myself working on my car or my house. It keeps me busy."

"You don't listen to music?"

"Well I've been known to dabble in metal."

Hank snorted, his arms folded, looking unimpressed.

"What about you, Anderson? What are your hobbies?"

Hank's eyes rose in surprise.

"I love basketball, football, baseball. I used to shoot a mean 3 pointer. As for music. I listen to jazz like a person who actually has some good taste. Metal is the devil's music."

Connor snorted, the corners of his lips lifted in a smile.

"Can't disagree with that."

The next day, the suspect was returned to the precinct so the police could interrogate him.

Connor, Hank, and two other detectives were outside the interrogation room preparing to question the suspect held in there. One of them was a young man with disheveled brown hair and the other a brown skinned man.

"You gonna interrogate the suspect or do we have to leave this in the hands of the rookie?" the brown haired man asked Connor, glancing at Hank with narrowed eyes.

"Oh you don't think he can do it? Anyone can interrogate a suspect? Whether or not they can get a confession is another thing," Connor said glancing at him with a smug grin on his face.

The man turned to glare at Connor.

"You cocky little..."

"Enough with the melodrama, we got work to do," Hank spat out.

The brown haired man was quiet.

"So how do you wish for us to proceed?" Hank asked.

"Why don't you try interrogating the suspect."

The old man glanced at him with left brow raised.

"Me?"

"Yes you, Anderson. What better way to learn from your superiors than a little hands-on practice," Connor said.

Hank coughed looking away from Connor.

"Well then, I'll see what I can do."

With that Hank set foot in the interrogation room where the suspect was already seated at a small wooden table at the center of the empty room.

He opened the file that was left on the table glancing at photographs taken at the crime scene.

"My name is Hank Anderson. What's your name?"

"You can just call me Jake."

"Well then Jake, sit back and relax while I ask you some questions."

"Why'd you kill that android?" Hank asked.

Jake looked at the table avoiding his eyes.

"I didn't mean to."

Hank raised a brow.

"Elaborate."

"I thought he was going to kill me."

"You thought..."

"I don't know, I thought I saw him wielding a knife hovering over my bed so I took the gun from my bedside table drawer."

"What happened next?"

"He tried to reason with me I think but I couldn't hear him. He kept walking closer to me I got scared and I tried to shoot him but the gun was jammed so I ran towards the closet and got my son's metal baseball bat from the closet."

Tears welled up in his eyes.

"I turned and hit him in the shoulder with the baseball bat before heading downstairs. I think he was following me, he had me cornered and I didn't know what else to do. So I swung at him. He stopped the bat with his hands so I reached behind me with a knife and I tried to stab him with it but he took the knife from me. I released the bat from his hold and swung again, I guess I must have caught him off guard because then he stabbed me with a knife before he shut down. I was confused so I ran up stairs."

"And that's it?" Hank asked.

"Yes."

"So you admit to killing that android?"

"I...yes...I guess."

"At this rate, he'd could say anything and he'd admit to it."

He spoke over the microphone.

"Anderson."

"What is it, Lieutenant?" Hank asked staring at the window.

"Come back. I'll handle the rest of the interrogation."

"Why? Didn't you want a confession from him? We're already finished with the suspect."

"Just allow me to clear up a few things before you get hasty."

Hank sighed before heading out of the interrogation room.

"Lieutenant, mind telling me what this is all about?" he asked removing his ear phones.

Connor didn't reply tapping Hank on the shoulder.

"Hold the fort alright."

He placed the earphones in his ears.

Hank rolled his eyes before Connor stepped into the interrogation room.

He sat down in the seat in front of the table.

"Is that really how it went down?" Connor asked.

"Yes, I told you everything you wanted to know."

"We both know that's not quite true."

Hank glanced at the two other detectives from on the other side of the window.

"What's he talking about?" Hank asked.

"Those pills near your bedside table and those appointment cards. You were seeing a therapist weren't you?"

"Well yes-"

"Prazosin and Zoloft. One's an anti-depressant and the other is insomnia medication. At first I thought perhaps you might have been diagnosed with depression and the insomnia might be a symptom from the depression but taking an anti-depressant would take that all away wouldn't it? There wouldn't be any need for insomnia medication unless the anti-depressant prescribed wasn't meant to treat depression at all."

Jake looked at him with confusion.

"I believe you were also apart of the military which leaves it with pretty high odds that the anti depression and insomnia medication alongside the weekly visits with your therapist indicate that you were treated for PTSD."

Hank's eyes lit up.

He recalled looking at the bottle of Zoloft very carefully. None of the pills had been taken.

Hank brought his mouth to the mike.

"Lieutenant do you mean to tell me that his PTSD has something to do with this murder somehow? If that is the case what would happen if I told you that the bottles were left untouched, what would that tell you?"

Connor grinned smugly at Hank who sighed.

"Zoloft is a drug that inhibits serotonin levels in the brain. In layman's terms it regulates stress levels to manageable levels. You could imagine what might have happened if our suspect didn't take his medication."

Jake looked at Connor with confusion.

"My medication? Is that why-?"

"You mean to tell me you weren't aware that you hadn't taken your medication?"

"I-I thought he was going to attack me. Carlos never goes in my room unless I ask him for a favor. He must have been intending to give me my medication."

Jake broke down in tears sobbing and placing his head on the desk.

"It was an accident. I didn't mean to kill him. If I had known, if only I had known."

Connor sighed as Reed and Chris joined him with Hank in tow.

"Guess that pharmacology degree was useful for something," Hank said grumpily avoiding Connor's eyes.

"You did pretty good in there yourself, Anderson."

The brown skinned man ushered the suspect out of the room with his brown haired partner in tow.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

A man with short red hair wearing a black apron over his suit and tie stood behind the counter of Bellini Paints, a paint shop in the middle of Detroit.

Another man came bumbling inside with his uniform. He had auburn skin, with blondish red hair trimmed to a buzz cut. What stood out the most however was his piercing light blue eyes.

"It's just about time for us to switch shifts isn't it, Antonio?"

"Already? Time sure goes by so fast. Are you still up for the party next week?"

The other man smiled.

"Sounds great."

"See you there, Markus."

"You too."

"If you need a ride, I can pick you up after work," Antonio said.

"Won't that be a little trouble."

"It's never any trouble. When do you get off of work today, Markus?"

"Well I came in at 10 and I'm supposed to work until 2."

"Then I'll see you then."

With that Antonio headed out.

Some time passed as Markus twiddled his fingers on the desk.

Two women came by later in the afternoon. One was a blonde haired woman accompanied by a brown skinned woman with short black hair pinned to her head.

"Excuse me, can I help you?"

The brown skinned woman spoke.

"I was hoping to buy a birthday present for my daughter. She's always been into painting you see. What should I buy to get started?"

"How old is she?"

"12, she's turning thirteen a couple of days from now."

"Well there's the starter set that is 12 dollars but if you want good quality paint you may have to spend more money."

"Which one would you recommend?"

Markus turned to pull a paint set from the cabinet behind him.

"This one," he said. "I used it when I was first starting out after my father recommended it to me."

"I see. Thank you. How much will that be?"

"20 dollars."

The brown skinned woman turned to the blonde haired woman who had fished something out of her pocket to place on the right side of her temple.

It was an LED. She was an android.

Markus took out an LED scanner. It was how humans made transactions with androids. The LED which was blue flickered yellow for about 10 seconds before returning back to a stable light blue color.

"Transaction complete," the blonde lady said.

"Thank you for your purchase," Markus said handing over the box to the brown skinned lady.

He looked on in envy glad that the mother would be buying her daughter such a thoughtful gift. Markus would never know how receiving a gift from his biological parents would feel like since his parents were long dead.

He would never have the privilege of relating to a parent of the same species. There was no one who could understand how it was like waking up to tears with no one supplying you comfort, no one who was there to understand about his feelings, no one who could understand what it was like to have a crush on a girl in school, no one who could understand what it was like to have that illusion crushed after meeting a boy he liked.

Instead he had Carl, an android who had adopted him while he was staying at the orphanage with his brother.

Minutes before his shift ended, a blonde haired man came bustling in.

"I'm not late, am I?"

Markus smiled.

"Don't worry you're right on time."

After the blonde had settled in, Markus addressed him.

"Can I make a bit of a last minute transaction? I reserved a paint set under the name of Carl Manfred. I would have done the transaction myself but you know the rules."

The blond took out the paint set under the counter. Markus couldn't remember a time when anybody in Detroit ever used money anymore. Androids took care of everything nowadays. The government issued one for nearly every household after the war providing all androids with the ability to complete all household transactions with a select amount of payment issued from them.

"Thank you."

With that Markus set out with the paint set in hand. He was looking forward to painting with his father today.

Antonio dropped by.

"Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah."

Markus got in the car and Antonio drove him back home. On the way, Markus saw a protest going on outside his window.

A group of people had signs held up.

'Hands off Government', 'Don't let Androids run the world' were on some of the signs.

Eventually Antonio arrived outside of a gate surrounded by brick walls that stood 3 feet from the ground.

"Don't forget next week," he said.

"I won't," Markus replied.

He walked until he reached a large drive way, it doubled as an entrance to his house. Flat trimmed hedge bushes separated the drive way from the large trees on their property.

A large red two story house stood in the distance. Markus walked until he reached the large arched wooden doors.

A scanner stood by the front door. Markus placed his hand on it.

"Alarm deactivated. Welcome home, Markus," a female voice said softly from the scanner.

The door opened welcoming Markus inside. He walked towards the back of the house setting the paint set he had received on a golden table with a mirror.

He headed to his room on the second floor to change into more casual clothes.

'Wonder where Carl is?'

The android who cared for him never seemed to sleep always up doing something productive.

'It must be apart of his programming."

After getting dressed, Markus left his room intent on finding Carl.

He glanced briefly into Carl's room in case this was one of the rare times that he was in his bedroom but the old man wasn't there.

Markus ran downstairs.

'Maybe he's in the studio.'

It was one of the only things that Carl had set up specifically for him.

He collected the paint set he had set on the mirror table before heading in the back towards the dining room.

A tablet on the table in the dining room had a newspaper article opened.

The headline read: 'Today marks the tenth annual, 'Deviant Day', a celebration of the android rebellion that happened over twelve years ago.'

Markus skimmed through the article.

'...humans and androids are getting along better than ever. Androids are now common place, providing for human beings every need.'

Had it really been twelve years since that fateful day that the army had recruited his brother for the war?

Heading past the dining room, Markus saw that someone had already opened up the studio. The warm sun was shining through the doorway lighting up the dining room.

He stepped outside spotting Carl standing in front of a large canvas painting with his paintbrushes.

"Hey Carl, I'm back," he added with determination and excitement.

Carl looked up from where he was panting spotting Markus instantly.

"Sorry, I started before you got here. I decided to do a little cheating to prepare me before we got started."

Markus walked behind him to see what he was working on.

It was a nearly exact painting of the sky.

"What do you think?" Carl asked.

"Wish I could paint that good."

"You are good."

"Is painting one of the skills Cyberlife implemented in your programming too?"

"Beats me, I don't know what skills Cyberlife gave me before they implemented all my human memories. I've never painted before in my life."

Carl walked towards the clothed table next to him looking at a painted canvas. It was a picture of Markus painted with red colors.

"Still, despite what you might think of skill, your paintings make up for it with emotion. My painting just seems lifeless compared to yours."

"You seem to know alot about painting for someone who's only painted once and was programmed to be skilled at it no less," Markus said.

"While I said that I've never painted, I remember it being a fond hobby of mine to peruse the museums when I was younger. It was why I encouraged you to continue pursuing art as a career," Carl said. "There's just something enjoyable about watching someone paint."

A young man with dark hair and dark eyes just then walked in the studio. He wore a blue coat over a black t-shirt and jeans.

"Hey."

"What's the matter, Leo? You don't look so good." Carl asked.

"Mom was sent to the hospital."

"Oh? What was wrong?" He inquired dismissively.

"Is that all you got to say?" Leo snapped.

"Your mom is always asking me for money to pay for her hospital visits. It was cold last time wasn't it?"

"What are you trying to say?"

"She's always the type to spend money aimlessly isn't she? Perhaps if she had saved the money she wouldn't be in the situation that she's in. I am not legally responsible for her or her wellbeing. She should be able to take care of herself."

"She has cancer," Leo said solemnly. "The doctor says unless she gets treatments she's going to die in days."

Markus felt concern well in his stomach.

"How much are the treatments?" he asked, feeling sympathy for his half-brother.

Leo sighed.

"The doctor says it'll cost over 2 million dollars just to give her the treatment she needs. Her insurance doesn't even come close to covering it."

Carl sighed.

"I can't afford it."

Leo snarled.

"You lie."

"Believe what you want but it won't change my answer. I'm not lending you any money."

"I hate you. Is Markus so special that you love him more than me? I always thought different but maybe our brother was right, you always loved him more than the both of us."

"That's not true."

"I only asked for you to lend me some money so I could save the only person who's loved me for most of my life."

"The answer is no."

"You don't care about anyone just Markus and his stupid paintings. You never loved me."

He looked away.

"You never loved me," he said as he walked out.

"Are you sure it's alright to leave him like that?" Markus asked.

"I'm sure with time he'll understand."

"What's there to understand? Why don't you help him? He seemed upset."

Carl sighed.

"I would, Markus. Believe me, the last thing I want to do is abandon my family like this but even with my retirement funds there is no way we'd be able to afford it."

"I know."

With a sigh, Markus continued to paint hoping to express his repressed emotions on paper. More than anything he wanted to express the pain he felt on paper. He wanted to paint all the regrets in his life, the pain in knowing that a tough skin is the only way to get by in the real world, how he regrets not being kinder because his father had wanted the best for them.

He wishes more than anything that he could help Leo somehow but he can't force Carl to give up his savings to Leo and his mother and it's painful knowing that there is nothing he could do for him.

At the corner of his eye, Markus saw the mailman come by to deliver their mail.

"Carl, I'm going to get the mail okay."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be right here when you come back."

Markus headed back inside the house and walked towards the mailbox. He opened the mailbox taking the mail from inside.

A piece of paper was addressed to Markus from Elisha Kamski. There was an art gallery 3 days from today. Due to having been an old friend of his father's, Elisha had offered to host his art at the gallery ever since he was just a young boy. His son, Elijah had carried on that tradition for a time before his death.

Elisha must have been getting on in years but he still seemed to have the same passion for art as he did all those years ago.

Markus headed back inside the house heading back to the art studio.

"So what did we get for mail."

"Elisha wants me to come to the art gallery three days from now," Markus said.

Carl rolled his eyes.

"Don't you just hate social gatherings?"

"Don't be like that. It could be fun," Markus said.

"It's boring. Dressing up to impress people who can't possibly understand the underlying meanings of your artwork. Tsk, tsk, you can never come too prepared," he said.

Three days passed before Markus got ready to attend the gallery. Carl had given Markus one of his old suits specifically for the occasion.

'I'm not buying a fancy suit just to give some satisfaction to the socially elite.'

Markus sighed, rolling his eyes.

For being an android, a being programmed with no feelings, it was sometimes surprising how stubborn Carl could be. Sure he didn't know much about Carl before he was converted to an android but even being programmed with thoughts and memories from his years as a human there was just no way of giving an android the same feelings as the human counterpart.

An android shouldn't feel stubborn because an android can't possibly want things done their own way because they are never programmed to be selfish.

Carl had told him this during their first meeting all those years ago when he had signed those adoption papers.

'I may have the memories of a human but I'm still very much an android. I am still programmed to carry on a task.'

What task, Markus didn't know but Carl did many tasks in his lifetime. He cared for Markus, he cared for Leo, he cared for his brother. He made sure they were cleaned, fed and educated not out of the goodness of his heart but rather because he was an android and that's what he was programmed to do.

After putting on his outfit, Markus stepped out of his bedroom and headed downstairs.

Carl was already prepared, wearing a suit of his own.

The two headed out, walking towards the garage. Markus looked on in fascination as the garage door opened seemingly on it's own accord.

He turned towards Carl who was glancing at him with a smug smirk on his face.

"I guess seeing the garage door open like that still never ceases to amaze you."

"I still like to imagine that we have psychic powers," Markus said, smiling in Carl's direction.

The two headed in the car. Carl's car originally had been an old chevy from the 1950s given to him by his father.

Carl could never figure out why it hadn't been updated to be more like the modern cars. Nowadays, cars were fueled either electrically or by solar power. With most cars, one could use the internet, the radio and call on the LED screen programmed in the middle of the cars. All of this could be used with accurate voice activation nowadays with programmed manual options should the car not be operational. The seats in the front of modern cars also turned towards automated doors so passengers could walk out without opening them.

It's why Carl had rigged his chevy with the execution of the modern car in mind. The doors opened once they were in the car's vicinity.

Markus took the seat on the right and Carl took the seat on the left in the driver's seat before the car turned the seats around so they both were facing the front windows.

With that the two drove to the art gallery.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

A tall brown skinned man checked in at the front desk of the Detroit Hospital. He had a bouquet of flowers in his hand.

"Can I help you?"

"I came to visit Kara Bradley."

"Are you her husband or are you her brother?"

"I'm a friend."

The nurse pointed to the hall on her left.

"Right this way. She's in room 212."

The man walked in that direction.

Eventually he reached her room. A woman with short blonde hair and blue eyes laid on the bed in a white hospital gown.

"Hey!" he called out to her.

"Who're you again?"

"I guess that concussion really did a number of your memories huh?"

"The doctor is unsure whether or not they'll return at all."

She smiled.

"Guess that just means I have to make new ones. You can start by telling me your name."

The man sighed.

"I'm Luther. We used to be...no we're still good friends."

He smiled.

"One of my sister's kids might have accidentally thrown a ball at the back of your head. I hope you can find it in you to forgive them."

"You live with your sister?"

"Nah, I just visit her every now and then. You usually come over to babysit the kids when she has work."

"Oh."

"I brought you some flowers."

He handed her the bouquet of flowers.

"Thanks."

"They said they should be able to release me by this afternoon. I think they're trying to get ahold of my parents."

Luther frowned.

Just then the nurse came in.

"Ms Bradley, I'm afraid we can't get ahold of any of your family. All of them are marked as deceased."

"What? But-"

"You did have an emergency contact written in our records to get ahold of Luther Sutherson should anything happen."

Luther's eyebrows rose.

Kara had listed him in her emergency contacts? Why?

"I can call him if you like."

"I'm already here."

"And you are?"

"Luther Sutherson. I'm her friend."

"Oh I see. We'll need to inform you about all the details on her condition before you sign her release forms."

Luther listened intently as the doctor explained she would need someone to check on her frequently to make sure there was no lasting damage from her concussion.

After signing her release the two headed out.

"What a relief. I wouldn't have lasted for another second," Kara said.

"Really? I guess I should have came sooner."

He chuckled.

As they walked, Luther glanced around.

'I wonder if Kara's hungry. She's been in the hospital for a while. If I were her I'd hate eating hospital food everyday.'

Still there was a lot of food joints, Luther was unsure where he had wanted to eat.

Suddenly a loud scream cut through his thoughts. He turned to see Kara had stood completely still.

"Kara, what's wrong?"

A girl with long brown hair was running towards them with wet eyes. She was accompanied by a middle aged man.

"What-"

"Take the girl."

"Huh?"

"Take the girl with you."

"Why?"

"Just take her and hide her."

Suddenly a couple of people in black suits with blue arm bands ran towards them all wearing black helmets that concealed their faces. Kara pulled the girl in back of her.

"Luther," Kara whispered. "Help me hide her."

Luther looked down. He could barely see the girl hiding between them. Luther huddled closer to Kara placing his left arm behind her.

Suddenly the middle aged man in front of them keeled forward. What looked like a tranquilizer dart poked from his back only there were wires from where it was attached to their guns.

"Excuse me," one of the guards addressed Kara.

"Yes, what is it?"

The guard removed his helmet revealing a face that she had only seen on her tablet. It was one of the new RK-800 models known for doing jobs like being bodyguards, soldiers, SWAT squads, FBI agents, any word that had it's grounding in the justice system.

"Did you folks happen to see a little girl run past here?"

"No, why? Is she in trouble or something?" Kara asked, feeling the girl standing behind her clinch her hand.

"She's not in trouble. We were hoping to watch her while we question her guardian. We believe there might be a kidnapping at work here and that the girl was kidnapped from her family by this android."

The girl's hands quivered against her own. It made her feel uneasy.

"Well I haven't seen her but good luck with your search."

With that the guards picked up the man and carried him away. Only when they were gone did both turn towards the girl.

"What was that all about?" Luther asked.

"They're lying. My father didn't kidnap me. He was helping me escape. Those men killed my mother."

After the tense events that preceded them, Luther and Kara took the little girl over to a nearby food establishment.

Luther had finally decided on taking the two to the diner nearby.

He addressed the girl sitting across from him leaning against Kara.

"What do you mean those men killed your mother?" Luther asked, looking visibly disturbed.

The girl shivered.

"It's alright you don't have to talk about it if it makes you uncomfortable," Kara said.

"So what're we going to do now? We can't very well take her with us. We'd be accessories to kidnapping."

"We already were, the moment I decided to take her with us."

"Kara, I have family. I can't afford to spend my time in jail."

"Luther, she's scared. She doesn't want to go with them. I'm not going to force her to do something she don't want to do."

Luther sighed.

She turned to address the girl staring down at her with soft eyes.

"What's your name?"

"It's Alice," she said softly.

"Alice, huh?" Luther asked. "Like in Alice in Wonderland?"

"Yeah, I love that story."

"What are we going to do about her? She can't stay with my sister."

"I was thinking she could stay at my house. I have a couple of spare bedrooms."

"The doctor says that I'll need to check up on you everyday to see if there are lasting effects from the concussion."

"I don't see the problem unless it's a matter of gas."

"My recent funds haven't been the greatest."

"You still work for the Detroit Police Department right?"

"I sent in my resignation months ago," Luther said. "The atmosphere made me uneasy so I got a new job. I get less pay but at least it's work."

"Oh?"

"I work in construction work now."

"I see."

"Still the money hasn't been the best. It'd just be easier if I stayed with you for the time being."

"Are you sure that won't be a problem for you?"

"It shouldn't be."

"Alright, if you think that'd be easier for you."

After the three finished eating, they waited at the bus stop. Once they got on the bus, they were dropped off on the street where Kara's home was. From there it was only a little walk away.

Kara placed her hand on the panel near her door opening the front door of her house.

The two others followed her inside.

Luther looked around. Not much had changed since he had last visited her place. The walls were still that warm yellow color he had come to associate with Kara. She still had that afghan quilt his mother had given her for her birthday. It was spread nicely on her couch.

A walnut coated table stood inbetween the couch and the warm fireplace. A television remote set on top. The TV was pinned on the top of the fireplace.

He turned towards Kara who suddenly was clutching her head.

"Kara, what's wrong?"

"My head hurts a little bit. I'm a bit dizzy."

She slowly walked to the other side of her couch and sat down.

"I can fix dinner if you like.

"It's already that time?" Kara asked peeking at the clock above the fireplace.

It was 4:30. In thirty minutes, it'd be dinner time.

She grumbled.

"Just take it easy and leave everything to me. What do you want for dinner, Kara? Should I fix my mother's special jambalaya?"

"Not tonight. I'm not in the mood for death defying spicy food."

She turned to Alice.

"Alice, what do you want to eat?"

"Um, I don't need to eat."

"You want to grow big and strong don't you?"

"That's not it. I'm just not hungry."

"Well then what do you think I should eat then?"

Alice looked to the side.

"What about spaghetti and meatballs? My mother used to make them before she...she..."

"Alright. Did you hear that Luther?"

"Yeah, yeah," he said dismissively.

"Do I have any spare rooms?"

"Well you have two guest rooms alongside your bedroom. You should be able to tell your room from the others because they're the only ones unfurnished."

"Want to pick out your room while we're waiting?"

Alice's eyes lit up.

"Sure."

"Kara!"

"Yes, Luther."

"Come here for a minute."

"Alice, wait there."

Kara walked towards him.

"What is it?"

"If I remember right I think you told me my niece left some of her art supplies in the dresser in the bedroom next to your room. "

Kara smiled.

"I'll keep that in mind."

She walked back to Alice and led her to a hall with three rooms.

"The room furthest down the hall is my room. There's the room across from me or the one directly next to mine."

"Can I have the room next to yours?" Alice asked.

"Certainly."

Kara lead her to her room.

It was empty and desolate save for the dresser and the bed wrapped in clean white linen sheets.

A couple of cabinets were under the bed that she perused. Inside was several white blankets folded very neatly.

"Looks like I even got some spare blankets if you wish to borrow some."

"I think I'll be fine."

Kara opened one of the dresser drawers pulling out sheets of white paper and a box of crayons.

"I got some crayons and paper here if you want to color while you're waiting."

She set it down on the floor.

Alice smiled brightly looking up at her.

"Alright."

Kara headed back into the living room to sit on the couch. She removed the remote from the table and switched on the television.

"So how's Alice?" Luther asked.

"She's alright."

It appeared that she had left the channel on the news.

The news anchor was talking about President Warren having a meeting with NATO discussing about conflicts over the territories of the northern hemisphere fighting over the right to the thirium mines that were over there.

Luther turned and smiled at Kara.

"It's funny. You'd always talk about how you wanted a child of your own. Guess your wish came true huh?"

"Is that why I babysit kids?"

"Well you always were a natural. My sister asked you to take care of her daughters while we were in college. You needed the extra money to pay for tuition so you agreed."

"What'd I major in?"

"You took a course to receive training to be a handyman. I believe you told me it would give you something better to do than lounge around the house. You never seen the logic in getting a degree in something you'd never use."

"What about you?" Kara asked.

"I got a major in Law and a minor in Home Economics."

"So you know your way around the house then?"

Luther smiled.

"I guess you could say that though I wasn't expecting you to suggest spaghetti for dinner tonight of all things."

"Is that an unusual request?"

"No, usually I'm cooking some kind of pasta at your place but you always like it when I make pizza. You told me it was your favorite food."

"Well I could see why. You could put all kinds of different topping on it."

"Like pineapples."

Kara frowned.

"Pineapples have no business being on a pizza."

Luther chuckled.

"Neither do anchovies but you don't see me judging you. I think the spaghetti is about done. You should call Alice in here so we can eat."

Kara leaves to fetch Alice. She returned minutes later with Alice in tow.

"So what do you like on your pizza?" he asked Alice. "Are you a pineapple or are you an anchovies girl?"

"Pineapple."

"See even Alice agrees that pineapple goes on pizza."

Kara rolled her eyes.

"Alice, are you sure you don't want any spaghetti?" she asked.

Alice shook her head.

"I'm fine, Kara."

Kara and Luther settled down to eat in the living room just as more news came on.

"I see there talking about the tensions between us and Russia. The whole conflict is just stupid. We already have more than our fair share of thirium reserves. I think it's just another excuse for our president to start another war."

"War?"

"Yeah, I've heard President Warren has huge ties with Cyberlife Corporation. There is this theory that the President uses the tax payers money to fund the equipment used to make android soldiers in case there's a war between us and Russia."

After both Kara and Luther chowed down on their food, the two headed to bed. Kara ushered Alice back to her room to tuck her in bed.

"I know you said you'd be fine without them but I heard it's going to be really cold tonight. It'd make me feel more at ease if you were covered up."

"Alright, Kara."

Kara spread the covers over Alice and kissed her forehead.

"Goodnight, Alice," she said softly before heading out.

"Goodnight," Alice said in return.

After shutting the door behind her, she headed to her room noticing Luther standing by the door on the other side of the hall.

"Do you need something?" Kara asked.

"Goodnight, Kara," he said before going to his room.

Kara opened the door to her bedroom closing it behind her. She changed into some pajamas she found in her dresser before removing the covers and slinking into her bed.

"Goodnight Luther," she murmured under her breath.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

After finishing with the interrogation, Connor and Hank had been working on some unfinished paperwork for the following days.

It was one particular day, while Connor was working that Hank was heading for his desk.

Hank shook his head and frowned.

"I see you're already here. Do you ever take a break, lieutenant?"

"Why would I? Duty calls."

Captain Fowler stepped out of his office glancing in their direction. He was a tall burly brown skinned man with a white ironed shirt and black tie with matching blacking pants.

"Bourne, Anderson in my office."

Hank followed behind Connor as they both headed towards his office.

At they headed towards the stairs, the brown haired guy from the interrogation bumped into his shoulder.

"Watch it, Bourne. Stay out of my way."

Connor hissed.

"Are you alright?" Hank asked.

"Just Reed, being Reed," he muttered under his breath.

With that the two stepped inside Fowler's office.

Hank took the chair in front of Fowler's desk while Connor stood up, his arms folded.

"There are usually less than 2 or 3 files of homicide related cases on my desk. Usually we get burglaries, petty crimes but now it's serious. There have been a lot of anti-android riots going on. Rebels spewing anti-android propoganda, destroying androids. Humans and androids are getting caught in the crossfire. We had to send a team after we heard how rowdy these protests were getting."

Connor frowned.

"Why are you telling us? Isn't it our job to keep the peace between androids and humans?" Hank asked. "We step in and silence the riot, it'll just be asking for trouble. It'll lower our morale amongst the people."

"I'd agree but it's not just our problem anymore. There have been threats, letters written to employees who work at Cyberlife. We don't do anything and the situation will only get worse."

Hank hissed under his breath.

"Sh-t.'

"I trust you agree with my decision then, Lieutenant?"

Connor nodded.

"Of course, why would I disagree? You really think an old grudge is going to cloud my judgement? It doesn't matter who's involved, I would still do my job to protect humans, or androids."

"Then what I ask of you will be simple. I want you to investigate into this matter and see who's responsible for these threats."

"I'll see what I can-"

"With your partner."

"No offence captain, but I don't need a partner for this. I'm perfectly capable of working alone."

Hank snorted.

"I don't see what's so funny, Anderson," Connor said.

"You would have died up there trying to apprehend that suspect if it wasn't for me, he had a gun on you."

"He had a gun on you too."

"Well he would have shot you if I hadn't distracted him."

Connor snorted.

"You were hardly any help. I was talking him down just fine."

"Enough, this is neither the time nor the place for your little spat. I suggest you two get to work."

"But captain," Connor sputtered.

"We're through arguing about this. If you don't want to work with him, you can hand in your badge. Now excuse me, I've got work to do."

Hank headed out with Connor following behind him with his shoulders slumped.

He stuck his tongue out.

The sides of Connor's lips curled up in a smile.

"Very classy, Anderson."

"You're so strait-laced, Connor. You need to loosen up abit. Where's your sense of humor?"

"It died with this conversation."

Hank huffed.

"Do you always need to be so difficult?"

"It isn't anything personal, Anderson. I'm just a difficult guy to be around."

He sighed.

"What do you want to drink? I could bring you something back."

Connor brought a finger up to his chin stroking it absent-mindedly.

"Maybe a glass of water."

"You sure you don't wanna coffee."

"I don't drink coffee."

Hank rolled his eyes before walking towards the break room.

Once Connor reached his desk, he went back to work.

Hopefully the captain had already sent him the case files.

A hand slammed his desk.

Connor looked to the left of his computer spotting Reed glancing down at him with a sneer.

"Well, well, look at you. The department's long nosed hotshot trying to be a good hard-working cop. Congratulations on last night, very impressive. Amazing, how only a little praise helps stroke that large ego of yours."

"Shut it, Reed."

"Or what?"

Reed slapped some papers off his desk on the floor.

Connor stared at him impassively getting up from his seat to pick up the papers off the floor.

"You can't touch me and you know it. What would the captain say if he found the department's top lieutenant getting violent with his co-workers?"

Connor was silent.

"You ought to be kinder to your co-workers you never know when they might retaliate."

He walked off but not before kicking Connor's right knee as he passed causing him to slip on the floor with a yelp.

"Lieutenant, what are you doing on the floor?"

Connor looked up and saw Hank had returned. A glass of water was set on his empty desk, Hank must have got it for him.

"I slipped and knocked over my papers."

Hank smiled.

"Here let me help."

He knelt down and helped collect the stuff that had fallen off the desk.

"Thanks."

"You don't need to sound so sour about it. Have some respect to your elders," Hank said.

"Elders? You could pass as someone in their early forties."

Hank ruffled his hair.

"I see you're as about as charming as you look. Do you even have a filter or do you just spout out stuff from the top of your head?"

"Perhaps I should have kept my opinions to myself."

"Nah, it's fine. I mean you weren't wrong... about my age, I mean. My son says I'm supposed to be 50 but who's counting."

"If that is an invitation to tell you my age, you're going to have to try a little harder than that."

Hank snorted.

"Why would I need to know that? It's already been established that you are a sixty year old man in the body of a twenty maybe thirty something year old man."

Connor frowned.

"You're not very funny."

Hank chuckled.

"I like to think I'm hilarious."

Connor set the remaining things on his desk.

"What's the deal between you and Reed anyhow?"

His right brow raised a hair.

"What do you mean?"

"I may be getting old but I'm not blind. I saw you two when I was heading back."

Connor's shoulders slumped.

"I see."

"Why do you let him bully you like that?"

"We have a history," Connor said curtly.

"He seems out for blood."

"Since I've worked here, we've never really seen eye to eye."

Hank sighed.

"I guess some people never change."

"Hey Bourne."

Both looked back to see Detective Reed had returned with a smug smirk on his face.

"What is it, Reed?"

"I think your suspect in the recent case has a bit of a screw loose. We tried to move him but he started a fight with one of the guards."

"What?!" Connor asked before running quickly towards the cells with Hank at his heels.

Once they arrived at his cell, Connor saw the man sprawled with his back on the floor a bloody mess. The wound seemed to be gushing blood from his neck.

"Sh-t," Hank sputtered under his breath. "Looks like he committed suicide."

Connor narrowed his eyes glancing at the gun powder near his neck.

"Bourne, are you alright?" Hank asked glancing at him, concern in his blue eyes.

Connor took out the gun from his holster and pointed it at his chin.

"B-Bourne!"

Hank reached out for the gun.

"Relax, Anderson."

"Connor, what are you doing?" He sputtered.

"I have a question for you, Anderson. What would happen if I pulled this trigger?"

"Connor, what are you saying?!"

Connor sighed impatiently.

"Anderson, just answer the question."

Hank snorted.

"Well I guess you'd keel over and die like most people who do those stupid kind of things."

Connor glanced at him with shrewd eyes.

"Keel over? He was shot through the bottom of his chin. Don't you find it odd he landed on his back?

Hank stroked his chin with his index finger.

"How would that be odd?"

"The knockback of the bullet wouldn't have been enough force for the victim to be pushed on his back if he had shot the bullet because the moment he shot himself, the head would have fallen forward because the brain wouldn't have functioned to stop any gravity from making the head fall forward. The weight alone would have made him collapse on his stomach yet he is lying on his back."

"So what does it mean?"

"It looks like a murder took place."

Days passed as forensics took in the body for an autopsy when there was another report of a double homicide.

Gazing at the file it appeared to be the murder of a 29 year old male by the name of Gabriel Horn and 22 year old male James Turner.

Connor handed over the files to Hank.

Hank gazed up at Connor noticing his eyes drifting off elsewhere.

"Lieutenant, are you ok? You're oddly quiet"

Connor looked at him with his right brow raised a hair.

"What do you mean? I'm always quiet."

"Yeah, but it's more than that. You seem preoccupied."

Connor turned to gaze at Hank.

"Anderson, did you say something?"

"See this is exactly what I'm talking about."

"Oh," Connor said. "I was just thinking about the Batt case."

"Something about it seems to bother you. The suspect of that case, you knew him didn't you?" Hank asked.

Connor looked up.

"Yeah, I did. We were in the same unit. I was a major at the time. It was the time of that human and android war. Colonel Stern had asked us to take out the deviants that the rebels had sent on the frontlines. I prefer to forget that it ever happened."

"I can see why. It was a brutal war."

"For one side it was. They were spies that attacked us from the inside. It was nearly an omnicidal bloodbath if one of our units hadn't reported on their upcoming attack."

"I thought the humans were wiped out."

"We surrendered on the deal that our kind would be spared but the androids had managed to get the press to cover it up making the world believe that it was a war that obliterated most of human kind in which they weren't entirely wrong. The war wiped out over three fourths of the human population by the time we surrendered."

Connor frowned.

"Still after that it should have been the end of it."

"End of what?"

"Nothing, I was just thinking about something but we ought to be heading out."

The two headed to the address. A tall man stood by an alley talking with Detective Reed who had already arrived at the crime scene.

"I see you finally decided to show your face here, Lieutenent. Just got through talking with the person who phoned in the homicide."

"And you are?" Connor asked the man.

"Gordon Lopez."

Gavin headed out to explore more of the crime scene.

"So you're the man who phoned in the homicide but why?" Connor asked.

"A few weeks ago, my partner went missing. I had posted flyers and information on the internet hoping to find any information about him."

Connor sensed Hank glancing at him.

"Earlier this morning, I recieved a call. Someone told me they seen my partner talking with someone in the alley near this address but when I arrived..."

His mouth broke off.

"He was...he was...dead."

"What happened the day before he went missing?"

"Well he had an appointment with his therapist. He has alot of problems with PTSD from when he served in the army."

Connor sensed Hank's shrewd gaze on him. He avoided his eyes.

After questioning the witness, Connor split off to investigate the rest of the crime scene.

"I'm sorry for your loss. Best of luck to you. I hope you can recover," he had said to the witness earlier.

"Lieutenent, what was that all about?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You have the emotional capacity of a tin can. That was the most generic thing you could have said to that person."

"I was never the best at being the most tactful."

"That had nothing to do with tact. What you said was fine it was how you said it."

Connor snorted.

"Well it got the job done didn't it. I didn't come across as rude."

"See that's what I'm talking about. Are you ever capable of being genuine or do you just have a big stick up your a-s?"

"I don't have a big stick up anything."

Connor glanced at Horn's corpse first. A bullet had cleanly pierced his chest.

He turned to Turner's corpse handling it with gloves. There were two bullets in his corpse. One at the right corner of his head and one straight through his chest.

He fished out the guy's wallet from his pant pocket.

Inside the wallet was his ID and some calling cards to several doctors and also a therapist.

Back at the office, Connor did a search on his computer. It appeared that the two people who were dead were also apart of the military specifically from his squad.

'I didn't even know that Gabriel or James had settled down in Detroit.'

"So that's what you've been up to."

Connor whirled around in his chair catching Hank glancing over his shoulder at the opened military files of his colleagues.

"I'm sorry, Anderson."

"Why were you looking up the names of the victims in the military database anyway?"

"I had a hunch. I won't know for certain until we receive the autopsy report but I know from our investigation on first glance it looks like a murder suicide. The victims appeared to have shot each other and after one of them was dead, one of them shot themselves on the side of their head."

"We won't know for sure though without the autopsy."

"Just yesterday Mr Batt's corpse also appeared to be the aftermath of a suicide but we never found any murder weapon and the bullets were from unregistered gun."

"You think they're connected. Don't you think that's kind of reaching?" Hank asked.

Connor sighed.

"This isn't the first time something like this has happened. There's an old case which I thought had been closed a long time ago. There was a serial killer going around killing people that exclusively worked for the military. I thought we had arrested the murderer. We were sure that the murderer was none other than Elijah Kamsky. He was put on death row and was executed just a year after he had been imprisoned. After the killings stopped I thought it had been all over."

"How were you able to send him to death row? From what I remember there was no direct evidence that pinned him to the crime and no murder weapon. What the police suspected was the murder weapon had no fingerprints."

"It was because of his connection with the war. He was a co-inventor of the androids. We suspected he had programmed an army of androids exclusively built to wipe humanity from existence. He had expressed doubts over serving in the war."

"He was in the war?" Hank asked.

"Yeah, we were in the same squad but we weren't exactly best friends though."

While Connor was at least civil with Elijah, the man had the knack for pressing his buttons.

"I didn't see him as an enemy but we had managed to gather enough evidence that pinned him to the crime. He had abstracted classified files from the military database that contained all of our personal information. Papers on blueprints for war machines. Several of the androids had traces of blood from the victims on their machinery."

"Ah."

"Still it seems I might have made a grave error. If the killer is still running amok that means it's possible I've killed an innocent man."

Hank looked grave.

"If this is the same serial killer from all those years ago, they'll likely come after you next."

"I am aware."

"Aren't you scared at all?"

"That wouldn't be very professional if I was."

Hank sighed punching him hard on his left shoulder.

Connor yelped in pain.

Hank glared at him.

"Always feel that need to put on a brave face? What do you hope to prove hiding the way you truly feel? That you're a god?"

"Is that how you see me? Like a god?"

Hank took a deep breath.

"I don't know how I'm supposed to see you because you've got this professional wall you've enclosed around yourself. What else am I supposed to think?"

Connor turned to glare at him.

"Of course I'm scared but I just choose not to let it affect me."

"Listen, Lieutenant if you ever find yourself in trouble...call me. I don't care what time it is. You can call me in the middle of the night for all I care just call me alright. It'll give me some peace of mind."

Hank wrote his number on a piece of paper before handing it to Connor.

"You have a cellphone?" Connor asked.

"Of course I do. Everyone does."

"I just never pictured you as the type that knows how to use them."

"Well I guess you shouldn't judge based off your perceptions then."

That evening, Connor was off work. He was about to head home when Hank tapped him on the shoulder.

"Lieutenant, do you want me to drive you home?"

"No, that's quite alright. I always take the taxi anyhow."

"Stay safe, Lieutenant."

"Will do."

As soon as Connor was dropped off his place, he walked to his front door and unlocked it before heading inside.

He made certain that both locks were fixed in place before securing the chain.

Connor let out a yawn as he headed to the bathroom to take a shower like he typically did. He preferred feeling clean before heading to bed.

After he finished his shower, he brushed his teeth and changed into some pajamas before heading to bed setting his gun in his bedside table drawer.

It was sometime in the middle of the night that Connor awoke to a light rustling sound.

Carefully and quietly Connor removed his covers and fished his gun from his bedside table drawer and his cellphone for good measure. He placed the cellphone in his pocket before carefully creeping closer to the door with his gun held out in front of him.

With his left hand he attempted to open the door when he heard a slight rustle. He made to turn but before he could make a move, someone was pointing a gun to his neck.

"Don't move or I'll shoot."

The soft raspy voice was familiar.

"Kamski? Is that you?"

"Connor, glad to see you remember me."

Connor set the gun down and put his left hand in his pocket. All he hoped for is that Hank received his text message.

"Are you going to kill me?" Connor inquired.

"Last I checked we weren't enemies, Connor."

"You were convicted of multiple counts of first degree murder because of me so you'll have to forgive me if I don't believe you."

"Do you really think I killed those people?"

"You have every reason to."

"I won't deny your reasons but tell me what good would killing you do when the real murderer is still out there. What you've done it doesn't change what we once were. We're still friends, Connor."

"How do I know you're not the murderer?"

"I think you know the answer to that. Dead people don't come back to life without a reason."

Then it hit him. Elijah Kamski had been executed a couple of months ago after being sentenced to the death penalty.

"You're an android."

"That's right. An HK-600 to be exact."

"The housekeeper android?"

"It can take on any appearance that the owner wants. It was just a matter of transferring my memories into programmable data and I made a copy of myself should I die."

"It would have been better off if you weren't around."

"I came to warn you," he said.

"Warn me?" Connor asked. "Warn me about what?'

"Don't go digging into files that relate to Cyberlife. If the others know your position they'll do anything to ensure your death."

"Are you talking about Cyberlife?"

Connor heard someone kick the door down. Someone trudged up the stairs and opened Connor's bedroom door.

Hank stood outside the door with contorted eyebrows pointing his gun at Kamsky.

"Ahem."

"Mind telling me what's going on, Lieutenant?"

"Guess that's my cue to leave."

Kamski fished something out of his pocket throwing it towards Hank.

It appeared to be a black ball but the moment it landed on the floor it busted in smoke as the two police officers turned to shoot at him. Kamski's presence was completely concealed in the smoke.

By the time the smoke cleared there was no evidence of Kamski having been there.

"Who was that?" Hank asked.

"Elijah Kamski."

"Wasn't that the culprit from that old case of yours gathering dust?"

"Not gathering dust anymore, Anderson."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I don't know but if anything he says has any credibility I think I might have caught the wrong guy."

"Having doubts, Lieutenant?"

"No but I have doubts an android would conduct a serial killing."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Once they arrived at the address of the art gallery, Carl parked the car and the two headed out walking towards the art gallery which was housed in Kamski's manor.

Walking to the door, Markus placed his hand on the scan pad by the door.

"Markus Manfred, invitation granted."

The door opened and the two stepped inside. The gallery was filled full of fancy dressed people talking amongst themselves.

A man with brown hair greeted him.

"You're Markus, correct?"

"That's me. You're Elisha right?"

The man smiled.

"You can call me that if you like."

Carl was oddly quiet.

Markus turned towards him.

"What's the matter, Carl? Aren't you going to say hi?"

He didn't say anything however but just stared coolly at the man.

On further inspection, the man who had greeted them had an undercut. The remaining locks of his brown hair tied in a braid.

"Well, I hope you have a good time at the gallery. There are snacks and refreshments at the table over there."

Elisha gestured towards the table with the punch and cookies.

"The cookies are especially good. My wife made them for everyone."

"I'm sorry about your son. I heard he was a good man."

"That may be true but still all good people have their bad days. My son was no exception. Did you know him when he was alive?"

"No but my brother did. He always said good things about him, always said that Kamski seemed to enjoy teasing him alot."

"Well Elijah can be a bit difficult at times. I seem to recall that he would always talk about how your brother was always so gullible and would always act melodramatically angry at the first sign of teasing. He always described your brother as a bit uptight."

"That sounds like him but he only acts that way around people he likes. My brother's not really a social butterfly so he usually keeps to himself but when he was in the military I sensed he felt lonely. Only when Kamski came up he started opening up to me a bit more."

"I see."

After talking with Elisha, Markus scouted the gallery for Carl.

"Excuse me," a female voice called out to him.

He turned and saw a middle aged woman had addressed him. Her hair was red tied back in a bun and she wore a silk green outfit comprised of a flowing skirt and frilly blouse.

"Yes, what is it?"

"Elisha informed me that you were the artist responsible for the paintings on the wall towards the back of the house."

"I am."

"How much are you selling them for?"

Markus shrugged.

'Weird, never had anyone wanting to buy my artwork before.'

"2000 dollars a sufficient price? Or maybe 3000?"

"I'll have to discuss it with my father."

Markus continued to search for Carl finally finding him chilling by the punch table looking at the art on the walls.

"Carl?"

He turned towards Markus.

"Oh Markus, there you are."

"I was just looking for you. You'll never guess what happened?"

"Oh really? Then what happened."

"Someone wants to buy my art."

"Really?"

Carl didn't seem surprised by the revelation at all.

"Yeah."

"How much are they asking for them?"

"3000 a piece. I wanted to ask you for your advice before I make a decision but I figure if I can sell them for that much I might be able to pay for Leo's mother's treatment."

"3000 is not nearly enough money as you should be getting from your art pieces, Markus. True art is invaluable, you can't put a price tag on it. Show some pride for your work."

"Carl, this isn't about pride. I want to help Leo. It's my obligation."

"Markus, you don't owe Leo anything."

"I know but I feel my love won't reach him any other way."

Carl sighed.

"Then I think that's an adequate price."

Markus saw that Carl had said that in a somber tone. He didn't appear happy with his decision but was putting on a smile to satisfy him.

'My art is invaluable to me but sometimes family is more important.'

After the transaction was made, Markus met up with Carl.

"Want to go home?"

"Definitely."

The two headed back to the car and drove back home.

After arriving back home, Carl and Markus headed inside their home.

"You're not angry with my decision are you?"

"You know I'm not programmed to be angry, Markus," Carl said.

"I know what you're programmed to be but it doesn't mean you don't feel anger."

"I'm not angry. I'm merely at a loss. What has the world come to that people feel like money can buy everything? What does it say about the world when the things that matter to you can only be bought with a pricetag?"

"I've found that for us, it's a way to cope with our own value. When you think about it how significant are we really? Our skills, our talents none of them are unique. While I'm a good artist there is always artists that are better than me. What you can't replace is the love you give to the people around you and that's truly what makes life worth living."

"I suppose. Say, want a snack before bed?" Carl asked.

Markus raised his left brow.

"What'd you have in mind?"

Carl chuckled.

"You'll just have to find out."

Just as the two were heading for the dining room, Carl caught sight of a bright light coming from the studio.

"That's weird. I'm certain I turned off the light in the studio," he said.

"You did."

"I'm going to call the police then we can check it out."

After Carl made the call to the police, the two carefully walked inside the studio.

Inside the two spotted Leo hovering over a table full of paintings.

"Leo!" Carl called out.

Leo turned and pulled a gun on them.

Carl looked bewildered.

"What are you doing?"

"You refused to help me so I'm helping myself."

"Wait Leo. I can fix this."

Leo laughed. His eyes were sad though.

"It's too late. The doctors said she died this morning. I'm just selling the rest of these to pay for her funeral expenses."

"No, you're not."

"How are you going to stop me, old man? Gonna kill me? I'll just come right back brand new. Mom never told you did she? About how I died in that accident. All those times you thought she was squandering your money. She was using it to pay for my funeral expenses. One day, some person from Cyberlife offered her an android in the likeness of her son. That android was me. You killed me and Cyberlife will make another one in my place and I'll never forget what you've done to my mother."

"Don't do this Leo. He's the only family you have left."

"Some family. He loves you more than us."

"Please don't kill him."

Leo sighed.

"It doesn't matter. Her funeral has been already paid. After I get the rest of the money I'll be able to relinquish all our debts and I won't have to rely on you anymore."

"Where did you get the money?"

Leo chuckled.

"Isn't that a funny story. A woman offered to pay the entire sum if I killed my own father. She said father and his friend had sabotaged her business. Before that entire affair she said her mother had once been CEO of Cyberlife and that they killed her. Him and Elijah Kamski."

Carl's eyes widened.

"You talked with Mariah?"

"Yeah. What a funny coincidence."

"Mariah thinks we killed her mother?"

"Yes, and I'm inclined to agree."

Carl made a step towards him. Leo shot the gun.

The bullet missed hitting the wall behind him.

"Listen Leo, it's not like that."

"What do I care about your little family secrets?"

"I'm just paying my debt."

Markus stepped in between them.

"Knock it off, Leo."

"Step back, Markus."

Carl stepped back but Markus lunged forward.

Leo pushed him aside.

"Any last words, Carl?"

Carl sighed staring at his son pensively.

"Just take care of yourself, alright."

Just before Leo pulled the trigger, Markus ran forward.

Leo fired.

"Markus!"

Markus keeled forward. Red blood coming from his right eye.

Carl grabbed Markus by the shoulders.

Leo looked on in panic dropping the gun.

Carl set Markus on the ground and carefully kicked the gun away from his son.

Just then, the police came marching in holding their guns out.

"Hold it right there."

One of the policemen got in contact with the hospital. While the other one questioned Carl.

"Now what's going on? You said that there was a break in?"

"Yes, my son came in and tried to steal some of our things before threatening me with a gun."

After finishing they finished questioning Carl and Leo, the ambulance came up. Some of the men marched up to place Markus in a gurney and ship him straight to the hospital.

"Is it alright if I accompany him?"

"Sure, are you his father?"

"Yes."

Carl got in the vehicle and the ambulance drove to the hospital.

The police had told him that his son would be charged for assault with a deadly weapon at least and the charges were pending for attempted manslaughter.

By the time they reached the hospital, doctors were attempting to stablilize Markus.

Carl idled in the waiting room twiddling his thumbs anxiously as he waited for them to operate on Markus to see if the bullet had caused any brain damage.

He connected with his other son's phone.

"Hello?"

"Connor?"

"Oh, Carl. I didn't expect you to call here so late."

"You're as calm and collected as ever."

"No need to continue with the charade. You didn't call to make small talk."

"It's about your brother. He's in the hospital. Leo accidentally shot him in the eye."

"Oh is he alright?"

"They are working on him right now."

"What room is he in?"

"Room 111."

"I'll be there."

With that he hung up.

A good thirty minutes passed before Connor arrived accompanied by an older man.

"What's his status?" he asked.

"They're just finishing up his surgery."

Just then a brown skinned woman came out.

"Are you Mr Manfred?"

"Yes, that's me."

"We just finished operating on his eye and we've taken him to the recovery room. Do you wish to see him?"

"Yeah."

She regarded the two other men with him.

"Are you with him?" she asked.

"I'm his son," Connor said.

"I'm a friend," the other man said.

The nurse let them in.

"The doctor wants you to be quiet when you go in the patient's room."

"Will do."

As they stepped inside, Carl took in Markus who was laying peacefully in bed. A bandage covered his right eye.

"So why did you come here anyway?"

"Can't I see my own brother or is he not considered my family anymore?"

"It's not like that. The last time we saw each other I got the impression you never wanted to see my face again," Carl said.

"You were clearly ashamed of me and my decisions."

"Is that what you thought?"

"I wanted to pursue a career, Markus didn't even have a supporting job. I put everything aside for you despite my own wishes and you wanted me to give it up for him."

"Connor."

"It hurt. It hurt a lot."

"So you came here just for Markus."

"I never hated my brother."

"But you hate me."

"Not as much as I could."

"That's a comforting thought. Perhaps in hindsight it was rather insensitive of me to put Markus' needs before your own but if I could take it back, believe me I would."

Carl clutched Markus' hand.

"In any case, you seem to be doing alright. I heard from Markus you got yourself a new place."

"That was years ago."

"Got yourself a new partner too?"

Connor's arms were folded.

"Yeah, this is Hank Anderson."

He gestured to Hank before gesturing back to Carl.

"Anderson, this is Carl Manfred. He raised me and my brother when we just kids."

Hank smiled before holding his hand out.

"Pleased to meet you, Mr Manfred."

Carl reciprocated his handshake.

"Just call me, Carl. I hope Connor's been treating you well."

Hank glanced at Connor, a mysterious smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

"As well as expected I suppose. You never told me you had a brother."

"You never asked," Connor murmured.

"Excuse me, I need to check his vitals."

A curvy female nurse with tied back black hair came in with some floral scrubs on checking in on him.

Hank caught Connor glancing at her.

"Looks like your type."

"Hardly," Connor murmured, feeling his face heat up.

How embarrassing.

"Do you even have a type?"

"Of course not. There are bigger concerns in the world than which woman I should date?"

"Doesn't mean you haven't entertained the thought. I admit I'm kinda curious."

"You'll just have to remain curious."

Once she was finished the nurse left the room.

Carl chuckled.

"Say Carl, your son ever pick up-"

"No, he's been a virgin since I took him in."

Hank chuckled.

"Why'd you have to go and word it like that?" Connor asked.

"It's true isn't it?"

"That's beside the point."

"I know you've always been the successful one of the family but sometimes I worry about you. There are thoughts that keep me up at nights, nightmares that you die an old shriveled lonely man."

"Don't be so melodramatic."

"I'm not."

"I'm fine with the way things are. You can't just expect me to accept you back so quickly."

"I did not expect that but Connor there is only so long you can hold a grudge before it consumes you."

Connor snorted and headed out with Hank in tow.

"Your father seems like a nice guy."

"Well he has that much going for him at least."

"Is that why you don't carry the same last name as him?"

"I wouldn't let him change my last name because it was the only thing I could control."

"So you were adopted then?"

"Yeah Carl took me and Markus in when we were little."

"He's an android though isn't he? I saw the LED on the right side of his forehead."

"Just because I was on the opposing side of the war doesn't mean I hate androids. It really comes with the kind of people that build them. You build a machine to kill another person without remorse that's a different story. If friendship and loyalty can't even overwrite that kind of program why would you care about them?"

"I never thought you'd be a person who values loyalty."

"Not blind loyalty. Every now and then, I could use correction. It helps keep me on the path of the straight and narrow. I just ask that no one stabs me in the back at the end of the day."

Later after Hank and Connor had left, the nurse gestured for Carl to hold the ice pack to his eye before she left.

Markus's eyelids flickered.

An intense pain burst from his skull.

"The doctor told me to tell you not to open your eyes."

"Carl?"

"Yes, I'm here."

"What happened?"

"Leo shot you. The doctor said it was a direct orbital floor fracture. They had to remove pieces of the bones from your eye."

"Oh, I see. Are you alright, Carl?"

"I'm fine. You should be less concerned about me. I'm replacable you're not."

"That may be true but Carl, I would still do it again if it meant saving your life."

"Of all the foolish things to come out of your mouth, I never want to hear you speak like that again. You are worth so much more than me. A father never wants to see his child die before him."

"Oh, I-I didn't realize..."

Just then Markus heard a ruckus outside. It sounded like loud scuffling,

"What's that?" he asked.

"I'll check it out."

Carl got up and looked out the room just as a loud noise rang out.

A group of men in black uniforms with masks obscuring their features marched through the hospital as though they owned the place.

"Holy sh-t."

"What's going on?"

"Someone's shooting at the nurses."

"Who?"

"Quiet."

Carl raised his internal mike to pick up what was going on.

"I know he's here. We were asked to pay him a visit and take him back with us."

"He's not taking any visitors other than close friends and family and you fall under neither of those categories."

"Our orders override all of your hospital regulations. You protect them we'll use any means to stop you."

"You can try."

That's when Carl heard the shot ring out and the nurse collapsed to the floor.

One of the other guys with him came back from the room ahead.

"Did you find him?"

"No, I think Mr Manfred may be in the next room."

Quickly Carl went back to his room.

"Markus."

"Carl, you sound frantic. What is it?"

"We've got to hide."

"I can't exactly move. The nurse told me to take it easy."

"If you listen to that nurse's instructions, you'll be dead before that eye will ever get a chance to heal."

"Then what do you suggest we do? Got any places we could hide?"

Carl looked around.

There was the curtain separating them from the bed next door.

89 percent chance of being detected.

A locked up bathroom was near the end of the room.

90 percent chance of being detected.

There was a large window next to it looking tightly secure.

95 percent chance of being detected.

Since it was the third floor Markus probably wouldn't make it out alive.

The ceiling looked like it had removable panels. Carl scanned the floor above.

It was currently uninhabited. All that was above them was pipes and circuitry.

10 percent chance of being detected.

"I got an idea."

Carl got on the bed next door and removed the ceiling panel setting it on the bed before walking back to Markus' bedside.

He removed the ice pack from Markus' eye and helped him to his feet.

Markus was hit with awful vertigo.

Carl supported an arm on his shoulder helping him to the bed.

He got on the bed pulling Markus up.

"Reach out and grab the ledge," he said.

Markus clung to it.

"I'm going to lift you. You gotta crawl up there alright."

"Got it."

Minutes later, the men with obscured faces marched into Markus' room only to discover his bed is empty.

The other men looked around.

One of them glanced at a nurse's schedule written on a white board.

"Looks like someone was here."

"Whoever it was left in a rush."

"They couldn't have got far the window isn't even open."

"Whoever they were they must have snuck past us when we weren't looking."

The men cleared out of the room.

Markus and Carl were on top.

"Looks like the coast is clear," Carl said.

"So what now?" Markus asked.

"We get out of here."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The next morning, Kara abruptly awoke. She was certain that she heard a loud pounding noise.

"Kara, Kara."

It appeared Alice was calling out to here from the corner of her bed in a pleading voice. She reached for Kara's right hand attempting to pull her out of bed.

"Come on. Let's go. We got to get out of here."

Kara got up following Alice downstairs.

"What's going on?"

As she headed downstairs it became clear. The sound of something slamming against the door along with the sound of gunfire became obvious.

Alice led Kara to an area on the wood floor in her living room and opened it.

"Where's Luther?" she stammered.

"He's outside."

"What?!"

"Kara, we got to go. Luther told me to get you. We're supposed to leave before those men catch us."

"The h-ll with that."

She climbed down. It appeared there was a basement below her house that she had stocked full of books. She could barely see the ones below the stairs.

"Careful, Alice."

Alice had stumbled across the shelves against the backwall causing the books to knock over.

Kara knelt down next to her.

"Are you alright?'

"I'm fine. I just thought I saw a light switch over here."

"Really? It's kinda hard to see down here with the lights out."

Still it didn't take long for Alice to find the switch.

The light revealed that the bookcase that Alice had run into was hiding a strangely grooved wall.

Kara picked up the books and placed them back on the shelf.

Strange how most of the books down here looked old and covered in dust in cobwebs. Even stranger was the book on the first shelf that looked like a new purchase.

She reached for the book intrigued when the bookshelf suddenly began to move outward revealing a room behind it.

Inside the room was alit by the light in the basement. It contained a couch, an unlit lantern and a desk.

"Hide in here for now. I need to do something."

"But Kara."

Kara pushed the bookshelf door back in place.

"Keep quiet. I'll be back. Don't make a sound no matter what."

With that she closed the hidden passage putting the new book back in place before heading upstairs.

Once she was back above the basement she closed the faux floor hearing no noise upon heading back up.

She did see a couple of shadows from some men outside.

'What's going on.'

Kara carefully opened the backdoor a crack to take a peek outside.

No one was in the back. She stepped outside.

Suddenly someone grabbed from behind holding her in a choke hold.

Kara felt her heart beating quickly, energy bursting through her body.

She looked down and saw the guy's shoes on both sides of her feet.

Kara stomped on his right foot causing him to yelp.

She elbowed him back, loosening his grip on her. She turned and kicked him.

He grunted hitting his head against the wall. The knockback providing time to grab the object he carried on him.

It appeared to be a baton. She hit him in the head before he collapsed to the ground.

Purusing the body, she found he also had a gun in the holster on the other side of his hip.

Just then she heard rustling coming from the front and the sound of footsteps coming in her direction. She dropped the baton and held out her gun deciding to round the left corner cautiously in case they intended to box her in on both sides.

Kara peered around the corner and saw one person coming from that direction.

She quickly stepped out firing at the guy at close range. He collapsed to the ground before she ran up to the front of the house.

Two men were standing surprised by her presence. Luther was sitting on the steps, his back leaning against the front door.

His shoulder was a bloodied mess.

Her presence however made him straighten.

"Kara, what are you doing here?"

She shot at one of the guys as he lifted his gun to shoot her.

Luther kicked the other's guy's legs granting him enough time to grab the gun that had fallen from the other guy's hands.

Kara glared at him.

Luther gazed at her with wide eyes.

"Don't be an idiot. You think I'm really going to leave you here to die?"

He raised his gun and fired.

Kara heard a body collapse behind her.

She turned and saw a man had fallen behind her, a blue wound in his head from where the bullet had fired.

Kara snorted before regarding the man in front of her. She smiled.

"Good shot."

She ran to him and helped him to his feet.

"Where's Alice?" he stammered.

She supported his right arm on her left shoulder.

"Don't worry. She's alright."

"We gotta get out of here as soon as possible."

"I know. Do you know where I put my flashlight?"

"In the kitchen."

Kara helped Luther to the kitchen.

"Which cupboard?"

Luther gestured to the drawer above the cupboard next to the stove.

"That one."

Kara opened it finding a small flashlight.

"That'll do."

She led Luther to the faux floor removing the panel.

"Oh she's hiding in the secret passage?" Luther asked.

Kara raised her right brow.

"You know about this place?"

"Of course who do you think built it? You were always paranoid about government surveillance and wanted me to build a stronghold in case they sent their own set of robots after you."

She snorted.

"Not so paranoid now, am I?"

Luther chuckled.

"How'd you find this place anyway? Did your memories return?"

"No, Alice found it."

"I have to admit that girl's very perceptive."

"Wait here."

"Not much I can do otherwise."

Kara headed downstairs. Turning on the flashlight she walked until she reached the far wall.

Spotting the lightswitch, she turned it on before turning off her flashlight.

She scoured the bookshelf looking for the obscure book before pulling it out.

The door opened like before revealing Alice sitting on the bed, huddled in a corner and her legs brought up to her chest.

She was frowning for a moment before it melted into a relieved smile.

"Kara, you're ok."

Alice lunged forward to embrace Kara.

Kara chuckled.

"Of course I am. I told you I would be."

"So what now?" Alice asked.

"We leave."

"But where will we go?"

"I don't know but we can't stay here. I'm certain more men will be back if we stay here."

"Ok."

Alice followed Kara up the stairs.

"Luther?"

Luther cracked a pained smile.

"Hey Alice."

Alice looked on with a frown.

"Are you alright? You're bleeding."

"I'm fine."

Kara snorted.

"No, you're not. We gotta get you patched up or I'm not taking you anywhere."

Luther sighed.

"Alright. I think I remember you telling me some stuff that you learned from that good friend of yours."

"Good friend?"

"Yeah, you were friends with that male nurse. I think you said his name was Simon."

"What'd I learn?"

"I need to apply pressure to the wound. You need to make a tourniquet to stop the blood."

"Oh I see. Will a shirt work?"

"That should work."

Kara ran upstairs to get a shirt from her dresser before heading back.

"This good?"

"Yeah. I think now you gotta tear it in thin strips."

Alice handed her a pair of scissors.

Kara sighed before cutting through her shirt with ease.

"Now tie them together."

She tied the strips together making a long piece of material.

Luther attempted to remove his shirt slowly wincing as the shirt stuck to his bloodied wound.

Kara helped him pull the remainder of it off leaving nothing but his bloodied shoulder.

"Now wrap it tightly around the wound."

She wrapped the material around shoulder.

Luther winced.

"Is that too tight? If it's too painful I could loosen it."

"You get it any looser than it wouldn't do it's job. It's not supposed to be comfortable. It's supposed to stifle the blood flow."

"I'm gonna pack some things and then we should be ready to go."

"You got a couple of bags in the closet," Luther said.

"I can help if you like," Alice said.

"Sure, can you pack some clothes in a bag?" Kara asked.

Alice nodded before heading off.

'I sure hope she can find them.'

Kara gathered some of the blankets on her bed setting it in a giant backpack she had stuffed in her closet. She decided not to pack the more thicker ones to leave room for more storage.

When she was satisfied she headed downstairs with the bag slung around her back only to find Luther wasn't seated where she left him.

He returned with a bag of his own slung over one shoulder.

Alice came down with an old drawstring bag full of clothes.

"Here Alice, I'll hold that for you," Luther offered.

She smiled.

"That's alright. I can carry this."

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm positive."

"Alright."

With that the three headed out making their way to the bus.

"We probably should catch the bus three blocks from here in case they tail us," Luther suggested.

"Good idea."

Eventually the three arrived at the bus stop. Some time later the bus stopped and the three got on board paying the fare.

"So where are you three heading?"

"To Downtown Detroit."

It was strange driving among the streets of Detroit. Had it always looked so peaceful? Not too long ago, the city was filled to the brim with crime.

Most of the jobs of clearing out crime in the city were given to androids yet nobody seemed to oppose them or their control of the city. That's what it was wasn't it. Hardly anyone knew how to take on a job, and there was no incentive to take on a job that wasn't going to pay you money.

Money was obsolete when the government ensured you had your own methods of paying for it's services to the citizens.

That's why Kara never accepted androids in her home. Just another way it had people under it's thumb Luther supposed.

Once they made it to the city, the three got off the bus downtown. Eventually the three made it to a motel.

Inside was a brown skinned man behind the front counter.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"How much is a room for the night?"

"It's free for the night. We don't charge people to stay here as long as you got a billing card."

Kara looked at Luther with a raised brow.

He took the bag off his shoulder and rummaged for a card in his bag before handing it to the man.

"Here you go."

"Excuse me for a moment."

The man took out an LED from his pocket placing it on the side of his head.

'Must be another android.'

"Thank you very much," he said before handing the card back to Luther. "Your room with be in room 132."

"Alright."

With that the three headed to their room.

Luther glanced around the room. A king sized bed stood against a wall on the corner of the room facing a wide screen television.

Heat traveled up Luther's face as he realized the situation that Kara put them in.

"Um Kara, mind explaining something to me?"

Kara glanced at him with a frown.

"What is it, Luther?"

"You told that android we would only be buying one room for the night. Why?"

"It's easier to keep track of everyone that way. Then if we run into an emergency, we can leave together without bringing it to anyone's attention."

Something in the way she said that made a chill creep up Luther's spine.

"Nothing's gonna happen Kara," Luther said.

"If you want to believe that, then that's fine but I'd rather be safe than sorry."

He sighed.

"Where did you intend for all of us to sleep anyway?"

"We could share the bed. All three of us."

Luther looked at Kara as if she was crazy.

"I can sleep on the edge of the bed. There's plenty of room to sleep there," Alice said.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

Luther groaned.

"You don't sound too thrilled with the idea of sharing the same bed with me."

"Kara, you can't miss the implications that arise when people find a man and a woman sharing the same bed together especially one as attractive as you are."

"You're not doing the birds and the bees are you?" Alice asked.

Kara glanced at Luther in accusation. He was blushing a dark red.

"No, of course not," she said confidently.

Kara leaned forward whispering in Luther's ear.

"You're not going to hump me in my sleep are you?"

Luther frowned.

"O-of course not," he stammered.

"Then what's the problem?"

He groaned.

"If you'd rather sleep on the floor, that's always an option. I was just thinking about your shoulder."

Luther's heart warmed at her thoughtfulness.

He sighed.

"Alright, you win."

Kara chuckled. She removed the top layer of covers and crawled in on the right side while Luther laid on top of the covers on the left side.

Alice sat on the edge of the bed.

Kara reached out to the bedside table and picked up the remote, turning on the television.

It was cued to the news. The scrolling headline below read: 'Local Bombshell: Five RK-800s destroyed outside local resident's home.'

A woman news anchor was on the screen reciting the events of what happened.

"We just received news of this horrible slaughter, just thirty minutes ago. A young Detroit couple was spotted with a young girl that was kidnapped from 41 year old Todd Williams. Once confronted the couple opened fire killing all five androids on the scene."

It showed outside footage of a two story house.

"Hey Kara, isn't that your house?" Alice asked.

Kara glanced at the tv with horror.

"If you see any of these people give our android hotline a call."

On the screen was a photograph of Luther and Kara.

"Sh-t."

Suddenly the sound of a siren came from outside their door.

Kara turned off the tv.

A couple of red, white and blue lights glowed through the window next to the bed.

Luther opened the blinds on the window a thread and peeked outside.

"Looks like the police already arrived."

"Sh-t."

"Don't panic, Kara. We can get out of this. Just get ready."

Kara and Alice picked up their bags. Luther picked up his as well.

Opening the door a hair, Luther scouted both directions of their door.

The coast was clear.

He headed out and looked down off the alcove down to the parking lot below.

Two police cars were parked outside the entrance. A couple of men were heading up the stairs from the left.

'Sh-t.'

Luther looked to the right. There was a shadowy alcove that might obscure them for a while. They could hide there until the coast was clear.

He opened the door and gestured to Kara and Alice.

"Kara, Alice, come on."

The two followed Luther who was briskly running to the shadowy alcove just as the police started marching up to the same floor as their room.

Kara saw that Alice was edging awfully close to the lighted part of the hall and pulled her further in the darkened alcove.

The loud voices of the men outside the door were loud and clear even from where all three of them were standing.

"Open up, detroit police."

When all was quiet, one of the men kicked the door open and stepped inside along with the three other men.

"Now's our chance. Quickly we gotta get outta here."

Kara and Alice followed Luther down the stairs on the right side before quickly running through the back of the motel from an alcove that led to a back road to the rest of the city.

"How do you think they found us?" Kara asked.

"Probably that android at the front desk. We should have known better. Those things are programmed to inform the police of any criminal activity that happens under their noses."

"Even if it's a lie, apparently."

"We don't know that," Luther said. "Maybe Todd is looking for Alice."

"Dad wouldn't send androids to kill you."

Luther felt a chill creep up his spine.

"If he didn't send those androids, then who did?"


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Realized I must be tired after I wrote this fanfic assuming the date of Cole's birth was the same as his canonical death even though the wiki page clearly said that his birth was in 2029. This fanfic was going to take place in 2038 but really there's no real reason the story has to take place in 2038 so changed it to 2050 just so I could write an adult Cole.

Chapter 7:

After Kamski's late night visit, Connor was left feeling bewildered. Hank, it appeared shared similar feelings about the matter.

His eyes seemed to drift away in the distance as his right hand absentmindedly stroked his chin.

He had been acting like this for most of the day up until the evening.

"You seem preoccupied, Anderson. Is something wrong?" Connor asked.

"What happened the other day? Why was Kamski at your house?"

Connor shrugged.

"I don't know why he was there."

"You didn't invite him?" Hank asked cheekily.

Connor glared at him.

"Why do you think I called you in the first place?"

Hank's frown deepened.

"You mean to tell me he broke into your home without no one noticing? Even when your house has been installed with the recent state of the art surveillance technology."

"Wouldn't mean a thing if it's built around Kamski's own code. A lot of companies used his programming in alot of their products."

"I didn't know that. When you first called, I thought you were pulling some kind of a prank. You didn't have to call me. It would have been easier to call 911."

"It would have taken them longer to get there and you told me I could call anytime."

"Any reasonable time. Some of us need beauty sleep."

Connor raised his left brow in disbelief.

"I'm not just talking about me, Connor. If I had known you were going to call me i would have left my cellphone on my bedstand. My ringtone's so loud, it startled my son so much he fell right out of bed. Of course it gave me a good laugh but-"

"I see. Next time I'll just leave it in the hands of a 911 operator."

Hank chuckled.

"Oh come on, Connor I was just playing. I hate to admit it but I'm glad I'm the first person you thought to call. To be honest I was a little worried I'd arrive too late."

He smiled. Connor noted it was a sad smile.

"A grumpy son is the least of my worries if it means seeing my partner another day. If it's an emergency I don't care what time it is. Call me alright."

"Alright."

"Especially Kamski shows his face again."

"Speaking of Kamski, he said something about there being a connection between the last two cases and Cyberlife."

Hank's eyes narrowed.

"You don't think he could have been lying?"

"He may be secretive but Kamski's never been a liar though he has been known to evade the truth."

"I thought you said you weren't exactly best friends."

"We aren't but being a part of a squad you get to know the members of your team very well."

Hank frowned.

"I see."

"He also told me not to pry too much. What exactly does Cyberlife have to gain keeping this hush-hush? Does your son know anything about this? I mean he's the assistant CEO isn't he?"

"Cole's never told me anything about this. I don't think he's involved in it at all."

Connor's cellphone chose that point to ring.

The young man took out the phone from his pocket. It was a call from Carl, his stepfather.

"Hello?"

"Connor?"

The raspy voice on the other end was panicky and filled with worry. What was Carl doing calling him?

He glanced at Hank who was looking at him with a raised brow.

"Oh Carl, I didn't expect you to call here so late."

"You're as calm and collected as ever."

It sounded accusatory with the intent of riling him up. Carl had the habit of making statements like that to get a reaction out of him.

Rising to the bait however would just lead to Carl making him feel guilty for acting out irrationally. Instead Connor chose the neutral route.

Hank noted after Connor had answered his phone that the young man's usual stoic expression broke. The subtle movement of his eyebrows and dilated pupils conveyed that whoever was on the phone had surprised him.

Even weirder was the brief frown on his face as though what this Carl had to say had offended Connor. As quickly as it appeared however it was replaced by an unnaturally stone like face making Hank feel as though he imagined it.

"No need to continue with the charade. You didn't call to make small talk."

Not long after that, Hank saw his eyes widen.

"Oh is he alright?"

"What room is he in?"

"I'll be there."

Connor hung up the phone.

"What was that all about?"

"I just got a call from my father at the hospital. I'll need to call in early to go see him."

"Is it alright if I accompany you? I can drive you over there. It's just a couple minutes until our shift is over. I'm sure Fowler will understand."

Connor nodded.

"Alright."

After the two finished visiting with Carl, Connor followed Hank back to his car. As they were heading out of the hospital, Connor spotted several men masked in black masks and suits at the front desk.

Once they were seated in the car, Hank spoke.

"Y'know you make the most funniest faces when you're flustered."

"Of all times, you pick now to tease me about it?"

"I think now is a good time."

"Did you see those men at the front desk?"

Hank frowned.

"Yeah, they stick out like a sore thumb."

"I wonder what they were doing there."

"They weren't visiting anyone that's for sure."

Connor glanced at him.

"What makes you say that?"

"Those men were androids. They carry on the same uniform as the RK-800s."

"You mean the androids that exclusively work for law enforcement?"

"You could say that."

"Why would they be at the hospital though?"

Hank shrugged.

"Who knows?"

He glanced at Connor.

"Listen why don't you drop by our place tonight?"

Connor raised a brow.

"Why?"

"I feel uneasy driving you back to your place especially with Kamski running amok and that threat."

"Wouldn't that be an inconvenience to you?"

"Not to me. I'll pitch the idea with Cole and see what he thinks."

As the two drove off, Connor glanced around the car. It was an old car from a company that no longer sold cars. A bobbing hula girl was sitting on the window on the passengers but not much customization over all.

"Is this your car?"

"Yeah, my son insisted I keep my old car even though I wanted to get a new one."

"Why?"

Hank shrugged.

"I don't know. Nostalgia maybe."

"I can see that."

As they drove by several streets, Connor spotted a familiar looking neighborhood. He had drove here in the past when he had been living with Carl.

If he remembered Carl used to live in a house on this block before moving in the large house on 8941 Lafayette Avenue.

They passed his old house before driving into a parking lot to a house five houses down.

Eventually the two parked outside a surprisingly quaint looking home. The two stepped out of the car.

"I'd never have imagined the assistant CEO living in a place like this," Connor said.

"Well it's more efficient than getting a home by yourself. You'd have no one to help clean it up when it gets messy."

"True."

"Maybe you ought to think of investing in a roommate yourself, Connor."

"I'm perfectly fine living on my own."

Hank glanced at him skeptically before fishing his keys from the pocket of his brown coat.

He unlocked the door gesturing for Connor to come in.

Connor followed behind Hank glancing at the interior of the living room.

A man with short blond hair was seated on the couch next to a large St Bernard that had cozied up next to him.

"Hey dad."

"Hi son."

"How was work?"

"Just your usual business and you?"

"Exhausting as usual. Mariah had me doing a lot of paperwork."

"I see. Do you mind some company? I brought someone from work."

Cole's blue eyes lit up at the sight of the young man behind his father.

"Cole this is my colleague, Connor Bourne," Hank said gesturing to him.

He motioned to Cole.

"Connor this is my son, Cole."

"Pleased to meet you."

Cole narrowed his eyes.

"Can you cook?"

"Um, yeah. I've been known to cook a few things."

Cole sighed.

"Thank goodness."

"Why?"

"My father's supposed to cook tonight but he's a hopeless cause. None of it is remotely edible."

"Hey!" Hank sputtered.

"So can you cook for us tonight?" Cole asked.

"Um sure."

"You don't have to agree if you don't want to," Hank said.

"That's alright. I don't mind cooking for you two. Can you show me the way around your kitchen?"

Hank showed Connor where he stored the pans.

"Do you got any meat?"

"Yeah."

"What about flour?"

"It's in the cupboard."

"Got any vegetables."

Hank's lips curled in a frown.

"Yuck."

"I worry when you say things like that."

"Oh yeah?"

He opened Hank's refrigerator. it had tons of condiments ranging from mayonnaise, jelly, Tabasco sauce, and ketchup.

A six pack of caffeinated, cherry flavored pop was on the second shelf alongside a box from a local pizza joint. Other food such as hamburgers bought from fast food restaurants was on the bottom shelf.

Connor perused the fruit bin finding a couple of apples but the vegetable was filled with another six pack of pop.

He glanced at Hank in disbelief.

"Really? One six pack of pop wasn't enough? This is one of the reason why America has one of the highest obesity rates."

Hank scoffed.

"Shut up, I know that. Who says any of that's for me anyway? The six packs belong to Cole."

Connor sighed before closing the fridge.

He walked up to Cole who moved the St Bernard closer to him before Connor sat on the couch beside him.

"What exactly does that old man fix you every day?"

Hank snorted.

"Well yesterday he tried to fix a steak and nearly burned the house down. The day before that he tried to make spaghetti but the sauce he made with it was terrible."

Connor glared at Hank.

Hank looked at Connor innocently.

"I tried to make it like I did in college. I used ramen and everything."

Connor hugged Cole close.

"Stop, you're killing this poor man."

Cole shifted uncomfortably.

"Um, Connor. This is kinda getting weird."

Hank folded his arms.

"Don't be so melodramatic, Connor."

Connor released Cole.

"Listen Cole, can you do me a favor?"

"What is it?"

"Can you go to the store? I need you to buy some things. Do you got something I can write on?"

Cole took off his tablet off the table and opened an app.

"Knock yourself out."

Connor wrote several things before handing it back to Cole.

"There you go."

"Ok, I'll be back," Cole said before snatching the keys off the table.

"Don't wreck the car," Hank said.

"Real funny."

With that Connor returned to the kitchen and got out the meat setting it on the counter and filleting it.

"What are you doing now?"

"Filleting the meat."

Hank stared at Connor with narrow eyes.

"It seems like you and Cole really hit it off, huh?"

Connor didn't turn from his task.

"Something about that bother you?"

"You think you're not social, if he had an option my son wouldn't talk to people at all yet he opened up to you."

"Is that so strange? We're both quiet people."

"It's not just him. Despite this lonely air about you there's also something gentle in your eyes. It's like you were made to attract people to you. When we were first met, you came across as an arrogant hotshot who looked down on people inferior to you. I found I wanted to bring you down a peg so I deliberately tried to p-ss you off. It never worked."

Connor stiffened.

"Who is to say that it didn't?"

"Sometimes it's hard to tell how you feel, you don't exactly emote, y'know. Most of the time, I found myself more angry when you didn't. I wanted to punch your lights out but I didn't."

Connor glanced at him.

"Why?"

Hank stammered, he seemed enraptured by Connor's gaze.

The way Hank was glancing at him with piercing blue eyes and his twitching smile made it seem like he was the only valued person in the room.

He ignored the way his heart was beating rapidly in his chest.

"W-whenever I looked at your eyes, I couldn't."

Connor turned to continue his work. He took out a large bowl from a cupboard and some oil and flour from another cupboard before pouring the flour in the bowl.

Hank watched him as he coated the meat with oil before Connor placed it in the bowl of flour.

Cole came back once Connor had finished cooking the meat. Most of it was already a nice golden brown.

Hank helped him unload the groceries on the kitchen counter. Connor took some onion and pepper from the bags and set it on the cutting board near the stove.

Taking out a kitchen knife from the silverware drawer, Connor set to work cutting the vegetables.

Hank snorted.

"You're very dexterous with your hands."

"I practice."

Cole observed them from where he was sitting. Connor and his father were getting along surprisingly well.

It seemed the two worked closely together. When Connor asked for something his father would fetch it for him. He didn't miss the glances he gave the young man either.

After finishing dinner, Hank helped Connor serve the plates. Once everyone was served, Connor went into the kitchen.

"Connor, what are you doing?"

"I just have to finish the dishes then I'll be back."

Once Connor had gone in the kitchen, Cole spoke.

"So what's the deal between you and Connor anyway?"

Hank sputtered. His eyes drifted away from his son's.

"Nothing, we're just coworkers."

Cole caught him staring at Connor's butt and snorted.

"Really, it looks to me like you really like him."

"What gives you that idea?"

"Your eyes are always on him and you're always teasing him."

"You're crazy."

"You used to look at mom that way."

Hank turned towards him in confusion.

"Cole, I know you wanted me to go back with her but it wouldn't be the same. I'm not the same person I once was and I can't be the person she wants me to be."

"I know. I just want you to be happy."

Hank softly gazed at his son.

"Cole..."

Connor joined them at the table as Cole took a bite from his plate.

His eyes widened with surprise.

"Wow, this is really good."

Connor glanced at Hank who had left his plate undisturbed.

"Aren't you going to eat, Hank?"

"I'm not hungry so I'm saving it for later."

Cole glanced at his father with a smug smirk.

"You're missing out. His food's really good, might even make you fall in love."

Hank felt his face heat up.

"Enough of that, Cole."

Connor noticed Hank avoiding his eyes.

"Dad, can you get me some pop in the fridge?"

"Alright, I guess I can put my plate in the fridge then."

With that Hank got up from his seat and took his plate with him to the fridge setting it in the second shelf before picking up a soda for his son.

He reclaimed his seat tossing the soda to Cole.

"Thanks dad."

"Listen Cole, is it alright if Connor stays with us for the night?"

"Is there something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong. I just think he might be in danger if he stays at his place."

"Oh."

"So is it alright?"

"It's your house, though. I really don't have a say do I?"

"You do, Cole. If he's not welcome here just say so."

Cole glanced at Connor.

"Look I don't mind him staying here but you can't protect him forever. What's gonna happen tomorrow?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

Cole chuckled.

"I'm heading to bed. Don't keep up Connor too late."

After he had left, Connor turned to Hank. His eyes seemed to wander as he folded his arms.

"Are you alright? You look kind of tense."

"I'm fine."

Hank got some dog food from the cupboard scooping out some to put in a large white dog bowl that was labeled 'Sumo.'

"If I didn't know any better I'd say you were worried about what Cole said but you don't come across to me for the worrying type."

Hank hissed.

"Don't talk so loud. The walls have ears."

"Sorry," Connor whispered.

"SUMO!" Hank called out, whistling for his dog who came bustling in, his feet clattering against the hard floor of the kitchen.

The St Bernard who Connor now knew as Sumo began chowing his food like it was his last meal.

Hank lowered his voice, speaking softly.

"I hate to admit it but you're right I am worried. Just because I seem calm doesn't mean I always am. I just don't want Cole to worry about me more than he already does."

"Then who will worry about you?"

Hank's eyes widened.

Connor smiled and winked at him.

"I guess that's my job isn't it?"

Hank smiled right back.

"Yes I supposed it is."

Connor turned to glance at the dog. Earlier he had noticed his left paw was a robotic attachment.

"I suppose there's a story why your dog has that metal leg?"

Hank shrugged.

"Don't really know. A while back, Sumo went missing and Cole brought him to the house looking just like that."

"I wonder if it wasn't replaced by Cyberlife. I guess they have everything now, huh?"

"I suppose you're wondering where you're going to stay tonight?"

"Well yeah I suppose I am."

Hank motioned for Connor to follow him. He lead him past two rooms.

"If you need anything I'm in the bedroom on the left side. To the right of that is the bathroom."

He continued to walk further down the hallway until they reached a room on the left and right sides.

"Cole's room is across from your room and you'll be staying in the guest room on the right."

Hank left Connor to the accommodations. He opened the door to the guest room and stepped inside. Most of it was empty, except for the sheetless mattress on the bed to the right of the room and the old worn wooden dresser clear on the left side.

There was a knock on the door panel minutes later.

"Knock knock."

Connor turned to face Hank.

"I returned with blankets. I wasn't sure if you'd be comfortable."

"Can I use the shower or do you two use it?"

"I already took a shower. My son usually takes one in the morning before work. So it should be free for you to use."

"Got any spare clothes I could borrow."

"Yeah, you intending to shower before bed."

"Well it can be refreshing."

Hank chuckled.

"Well then I think I have some spare clothes in my closet. I'll be back."

He left and returned with some clothes in his arms.

Connor took the pile from him.

"Thank you."

Hank smiled.

"Good night, Connor."

"Good night, Hank."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8.

Carefully Carl scanned the area where he and Markus were hiding. Besides the circuitry and pipes pinned to the side, most of this area was clear and just large enough that someone their size could crawl up there with ease.

He supposed that's the way architects built these more modern buildings with the revelations that the materials they used decades ago also caused the cancer rates to skyrocket.

He scanned the rest of the building finding a vent above the emergency exit.

"Come on, Markus. I think I found a way out."

"Where?"

Carl glanced at Markus and instantly remembered that his eye was still out for the count.

He gave him back the ice pack.

"Here, hold that to your eye and give me your hand."

Markus held out his hand to Carl.

He wrapped it around his right hand.

"I want you to hold on tight alright. I'll get us out of here."

Markus followed Carl's lead until they reached the vent.

Carl scanned the perimeter below.

No human or android was around the vicinity.

He held out his left hand. The index finger folded back as a red light shimmered from the finger.

Carefully Carl aimed it as the vent firing a laser from his finger loosening the vent before he pulled it out from below and set it aside.

"Are you ready, Markus?"

"Ready? Ready for what."

"I'm going to pull you down alright?"

Markus slowly eased back down the vent, Carl clinging to both his arms holding him steady.

Eventually he touched the floor.

"Okay Carl, I'm good," he whispered and Carl relinquished his gift.

With a sigh, Markus sat down leaning against the wall next to the emergency exit. Carl eventually joined him, both exiting the vent.

"We outta get going we can't stick around."

Markus attempted to get to his feet but the dizziness made him unsteady.

He covered his mouth.

"I think I'm going to be sick."

Carl wrapped his left arm around Markus for support.

"Markus, I'll carry you out alright. Just hang in there."

He opened the door of the emergency exit and the two stepped inside to a bunch of stairs.

The two stopped once they reached the first floor. Only the nurse at the front desk was present.

It was a clear exit.

Carl carefully opened the door which made a creaking sound. He made sure the nurse was preoccupied with something else before making their way outside.

"I think I need to switch arms," Markus whispered.

Carl swapped arms, supporting Markus' left arm on his right shoulder.

"That good?"

"Yeah."

With that the two stepped outside and headed towards Carl's car.

Suddenly a loud boom whizzed in the distance.

Markus felt a sting come from his lower left side and winced.

"Markus, what's the matter?"

"I think I was shot."

"Sh-t."

"Freeze, hold it right there."

Carl stood still.

"We found them," A voice said behind them.

"Did you really think you could escape us? An RK-800 always accomplishes their mission."

"What are you going to do now?" Carl asked.

One of the androids took his arm.

"We're taking you with us?"

Markus winced clutching his wound.

"What about Markus?"

"We have no business with him."

Carl turned with a snarl pulling his arm out of their grasp.

"You shot him. The h-ll you don't."

"We'll do whatever means necessary to apprehend our target."

He folded his arms.

"You think I'll just let you capture me like that huh?"

"We left you with no other option. You have no choice."

"Oh I have plenty of choices. I could just refuse to go with you."

"Then you'll die."

'I'll die kicking your a-ses. You think I'm going to leave my son here to die because you immbeciles put your mission above the lives of another human being?"

The androids looked at him with confusion.

"I suppose the thought didn't cross your mind then? I guess your creator wasn't that much of a genius. Here's a newsflash, in case you haven't caught wind of my priorities. You leave my son here to rot, I will deactivate myself here and now and you'll die never accomplishing your mission."

"You wouldn't," one of the androids said. "You wouldn't throw your life away for nothing."

"But I would and your creator could care less if I die or not. You were all created from scrap metal and you could easily return to scrap metal anytime if you all prove faulty."

"Take the human with us."

Carl smiled as one of the androids grabbed his arm and lead him to the car.

The others hauled Markus behind him before shoving him in the car alongside Carl.

"Markus, you're going to be alright?"

He stroked his head soothingly as Markus laid on his lap.

The two eventually arrived at a large 12 story building being lead in by the androids.

Inside the building was a brown skinned woman behind the front desk. The androids had put their LEDS back on the sides of their forehead apparently while driving them here.

The woman behind the front desk appeared to already have her LED on the corner of her forehead. Surprising considering the mass population of androids preferred taking off the LEDs to make it harder to distinguish them from other humans. It had been a message of freedom at the time.

Wordless communication went on with the androids before the security lasers blocking the entrance to the building were removed.

Carl and Markus were shoved through an elevator at the end of a long hall. One of the androids pushed a button that read floor 5. Minutes later it stopped on floor five before Carl and Markus were ushered out.

They walked through another long hall spotting several barred doors on the sides.

Loud moans, and pained groans echoed the halls. Markus wasn't sure he wanted to know what those sounds were amidst the burning pain in his side.

Carl it appeared ignored it.

The two were eventually ushered to a room at the end of the hall and locked in a room with metal walls, a bed on the right corner with a large cushion made with a metal frame, and a metal sink on the left corner.

Quickly Carl set Markus on the bed kneeling down in front of him.

He placed his hand on the ice pack on his eye.

"How's your eye?"

Markus allowed Carl to remove it.

Blood was oozing out of the corners of his eyelids.

"It hurt before but now it hurts even worse."

Carl winced.

"I'm beginning to think we should have just stayed at the hospital."

"Too late for that now."

Carl removed his coat and shirt revealing his hairless chest.

He began ripping his shirt.

"Still we ought to do something with that wound of yours."

"What did you have in mind?"

"When I was built, this body was created to have all the functions of a housecare unit. Among those functions was caring for someone's injuries. One of the first things to do when presented with a severely bloody wound is to stiffle the blood."

Markus sighed.

"Why do I have a feeling I'm not going to like this?"

Carl held a piece of fabric to his mouth.

"You can bite on that if the pain is too much."

Eagerly Carl tied strips of his shirt together.

Carefully unbuttoning Markus' shirt, Carl proceeded to wrap the handmade tourniquet around his wounds causing Markus to wince.

"I'm sorry. Y'know I don't mean to hurt you."

"It's alright Carl," Markus said through gritted teeth. "You gotta stop the bleeding."

After they were finished Carl let out a sigh of relief before redressing Markus.

"That ought to stop the blood for now but you ought to lie down. The nurse did say you had to take it easy."

Markus sighed before lying down.

Some hours later and someone knocked on their cell.

"The boss brought you lunch."

A plate of food was pushed through a hole at the bottom of the door before it was resealed.

Carl looked at it with disgust scanning the plate.

Some kind of hallucinogen drug was placed in the meal. It was as good rotten.

"So what's for lunch?"

"Poison and they know it. They want you dead, Markus and I was an idiot and fell for their stupid trap."

He kicked the food against the wall.

Hours passed it seemed before there was another knock on their celldoor.

"Anyone in here?" asked a soft voice.

"Yeah, what's it to you?"

"Good."

Suddenly Carl and Markus heard a clicking sound as if someone was fiddling with a lock or something.

One of the masked androids opened the door of the cell.

"Ch-st, didn't think I'd find anyone here in one piece."

The android removed it's helmet revealing a head of short blond hair and blue eyes.

"The name's Simon. I'm here to rescue you."

"Sure you're not one of those RK-800s trying to lull us into a sense of security."

Simon snorted.

"Are you one of those sick androids doing those sick experimentations of humans?"

"Not very subtle are you? There is a reason I didn't breach the topic."

"Carl, what's he talking about?"

Simon narrowed his eyes in Carl's direction.

"So he has a name huh?"

Markus snorted.

"Of course he does, he's my father."

"He could have easily brainwashed you to say that. You know what they've done to the humans held up here? I just passed by a room where an android was implanting robotic parts in a human while they were wide awake. The room was a bloody mess and they were screaming their lungs out."

"I know who damaged my eye and I know who shot me."

Simon sighed.

The only thing Carl is guilty of is raising me. How do we know you're not one of those androids who did either of those things?"

"I'd have hardly stood a chance releasing two wanted criminals with no backup. Y'know it's surprisingly easy getting the upper hand on them when they don't expect you. Surprisingly easy to kill as long as you can get a head shot. Learned that one the hard way," he muttered to himself.

He took out some guns from his holsters handing them to Carl and Markus.

"What's your name by the way?" Simon asked.

"Markus, and this is Carl, my father."

"We need to get out of here before someone trips security. Did you need some help?"

"He's fine," Carl said helping Markus to his feet.

"Then follow me," Simon said.

Carl and Markus followed him to a corner. Two androids were lying on the floor unconscious.

"You two will need disguises."

He pulled one of the androids in a dark room.

"So we'll undress these androids and steal their clothes."

Carl followed suit. His lips curled in disgust as Simon began removing the android's clothes.

"There is just something aesthetically pleasing about how they build these androids. I mean some would give money to have a hairless chest."

"Have some decency for chr-st's sake. You could at least avert your eyes."

Simon glanced at him causing Carl to tense up.

"Why? Are you disturbed by my bedroom eyes?

"You're treading on thin ice."

"Do you have a problem with removing his clothes? If you like I could take him off your hands.

Carl snapped.

"Be my guest."

Simon proceeded to remove the clothes off of the other android as well leaving them naked on the floor in nothing but their boxers.

"I'll help Markus."

"Thanks but no thanks," Carl said, glancing at Simon with narrowed eyes.

Simon sighed.

"We don't have time to play this prudish game. Time is of the essence."

"Fine but if you make any unwanted advances towards him I'll put a hole in your head."

Carl quickly changed into the clothes.

"What happened with you anyway? You said that android didn't shoot you."

Markus sighed as Simon deftly unbuttoned his shirt.

"My brother shot me in the eye and one of those RK-800s shot me in the side."

Simon hummed.

"He did a good job with the tourniquet though I suppose that might just be an advantage of his programming."

Markus snorted.

"You give androids way too much credit. I'm always seeing people do it on tv. If noone knows how to stop blood flow, they are idiots. I mean I'm not exactly the best example, but if you can learn that kind of stuff with no education there's really no excuse to ignore it when you're taught it on school."

Simon chuckled.

"I suppose."

He helped Markus in his clothes. Simon marveled at his work glancing up and down Markus' body.

"Sexy. I must say these clothes look good on you. Hugs your thighs in all the right places."

Markus felt his face heat up as he recalled overhearing him talk with Carl earlier. It seemed almost as though the voice was rehearsed.

'What exactly is he trying to hide?'

He was about to say something when Carl cut him off.

"Ahem."

"Sorry, looks like we gotta turn the heat down for the old man," Simon said smug. He placed his helmet back on his head.

"You should wear your helmets too. It'll be harder to distinguish us that way."

The two followed Simon until they reached a corner of the wall facing diagonally from the elevator.

Markus was about to head to the elevator when Simon's arm was held out to stop him.

"Not so fast," he murmured before pulling out the gun from his holster.

He aimed it high and that's when Markus noticed the security camera.

Simon fired, destroying the camera.

He glanced around in order to see if he had missed a camera or two before getting rid of them.

Simon motioned them to follow him to the elevator. Once they got on the first floor Carl peered around the corner spotting some more Rk-800s heading out from the other side.

There was three Rk-800s near the exit. One of the guards grabbed the shoulder of one of the Rk-800s as they made their way to the exit.

Carl enhanced the audio.

"Are you heading out?"

It nodded.

"There's been a break-in. The HK-200 and his human companion have escaped. We need to interface for verification."

'Sh-t.'

The RK-800 removed it's gloves, the flesh on it's hands ebbing away to reveal it's white interior and the guard proceeded to do the same before grabbing it's hand.

Minutes passed before the guard spoke.

"Ok, you're free to go."

"Great, they're performing security checks."

Simon looked at Carl in confusion.

"Security checks?"

"Yes, you're little escapade wasn't as clever as you love to believe."

Simon snorted glancing at Carl with a cold smirk on his face.

"Perhaps you would have enjoyed remaining in your cell being left to rot. Who knew that life was so meaningless to you. If you had a death wish, I would have just rescued your son and left you there to rot. I mean at least we would have got out hasslefree and I wouldn't have wasted two parachutes to rescue you."

"Any idea how we're going to get out of this joint? If the dead bodies wasn't an obvious clue that something's going on, the disguises are not going to fool anyone much less androids."

"You're an android," Simon said smugly.

"Which would be just peachy keen if android communication is simple like you desperately want to prove," Carl said. "The moment I interface with their network, the androids will have direct access to my memories making this all for naught."

"So we don't interface."

"What's the plan if they discover us?" Carl asked.

"Then we shoot them. It's a small sacrifice but I'm sure they won't feel a thing," Simon said with a wink.

"That's not a plan. That's something you do when a plan fails."

"Now's not the time to argue. I propose a new idea. We'll have Simon draw the guards towards us and have Carl knock them out. Preventing the bloodbath while being a bunch of stealthy motherf-ckers. No security, no hassle," Markus suggested.

Simon smirked smugly glancing at Markus.

"I like the way you talk."

Carl groaned.

"You can scan these rooms right? Find us an empty room," Simon said.

Carl proceeded to scan for an empty room.

"Found one."

He pointed at the room behind them.

Simon confidentally ran over to one of the guards.

"There's been trouble. I've managed to trap the HK-200 in one of the back rooms."

He ran towards the back.

"Is there an issue?"

"I can easily take care of it."

The RK-800 followed Simon until it was around the corner. Carl had opened the door a hair slowly creeping up behind it and nailing it with the butt of the gun.

It crumpled to the floor before Carl dragged it into the empty room.

"So what now?" Simon asked.

"Well we can't very well try that whole thing again. They'll definitely know something's up if you don't return with someone," Carl said smugly.

"Ok genius, what do you suggest we do then?"

"Elijah told me something about the androids he built. A trigger that could switch between protocol mode and operational mode. If I could find the trigger we might make this work."

Carl lifted the android's shirt and removed the panel on it's stomach revealing complex circuitry and a switch in the middle.

"I assume they are currently working on protocol mode?"

"Yes, they are being programmed with orders possibly received from Mariah. Operational mode should leave the RK-800 with basic functions like the ability to sit up and walk. I could hack the microphones in their helmets as well. They'll be listening to see if the same guards return."

"I didn't even think of that," Simon said.

Carl flipped the switch causing a reboot of it's systems.

It sat up.

"What would you like me to do, commander?"

"Stand up," Carl said.

He turned towards Markus.

"You're going to capture me and Simon. When they get close, you'll act like we just knocked you off our feet. Then we'll make our escape."

"Good plan," Markus said.

"If it works," Simon added.

Carl glared at him before putting his hands behind his back. He motioned for the reprogrammed android to clutch his shoulder.

Simon put his hands behind his back and smiled at Markus as he placed his hand on his shoulder.

"You could arrest me anytime, officer."

With that the two walked for the front entrance.

"I've found the prisoners. The HK-200 almost managed to lure us in a trap. It was hiding the human. " Simon's voice came from Markus' helmet.

The two remaining RK-800s walked up to them.

"Take them back to their holding cells."

Just then Carl broke away from Markus elbowing him softly in the stomach. Simon also elbowed the android to the side.

Markus fell down in a heap. Carl reached for the holster on his hip taking the gun and he lifted Markus by the shoulder holding a gun to his head.

"Make any sudden moves and he dies."

Markus felt his heart suddenly pounding fast. This wasn't part of the plan.

'What?! What is going on?'

"Move aside and let us through," Carl said coolly.

The RK-800s dropped their guns and Simon followed behind Carl as he held Markus in front of him.

Eventually the three made their way out.

Simon flagged down a taxi and pulled the driver out of the car.

"No hard feelings but we're kinda in a hurry."

He stepped in on the driver's side while Carl headed in the back seat dragging Markus behind.

Markus closed the door behind them. Before Simon drove off he took out a card from the pocket of his shirt and threw it at the driver.

The three drove away leaving the building in the dust.

Eventually they arrived outside a fenced area.

"What is this place?" Carl asked.

"This is the outcast section of Detroit. It's where they send the criminals and outcasts of society. I'm the leader of a anti-cyberlife group known as Jericho."

"Are you sure it's not anti-android?"

Simon turned to Carl.

"I have nothing against androids. It's Cyberlife who programmed them this way. We believed they staged the whole thing with the whole RA-9 fiasco that lead to the android's deviancy in the first place and were intending to control everything through martial law."

"You know how convoluted that sounds. Surely you don't think Cyberlife would program your everyday androids with the intention of silencing the human masses. Tons of people depend on androids for their every day life. Some care for children. You're seriously trying to tell us that they are plotting our demise because they're being programmed by Cyberlife?" Markus asked.

"I don't expect you to believe me."

"I don't."

Simon smiled sadly.

"Then I guess this is where we part ways then."

He walked off just before Markus spoke with Carl.

"Y'know we ought to think about calling Connor. We could use all the help we could get. He works for the police force so he has to help us."

"I'm not even sure he would once he realises the amount of trouble I got ourselves into," Carl said.

"Well at this point, we have no other options."

Markus scouted his clothes.

'Sh-t I forgot my phone."

"I could call him wirelessly."

"If I left my phone at the hospital, those androids might already know about Connor. They probably've already tapped his home."

"Sh-t, that means they could possibly pinpoint our location through the connection."

Markus sighed.

"Simon."

He turned and walked towards them.

"What is it?"

"Do you have a phone?"

"Yeah, why? Do you need to get ahold of someone?"

"Yes."

"Any reason why that android can't?"

"They got my cellphone. Carl says they'll be able to track him here."

"That is true. The people here don't take too kindly to androids and might even rat you out if there's too much trouble. Who were you going to call?"

"My brother," Markus said. "I wanted to warn him."

Simon pulled a phone from his pocket handing it to Markus.

"Here the phone is unlisted and untraceable, no one should be able to pick up your location from there."

Markus smiled.

"Thanks, Simon."

Simon looked away, feeling his face heat up.

"Yeah, yeah."


	9. Chapter 9

Edit: Just realised I had a scene in this chapter that assumes that Ralph doesn't even know Alice and Kara's name even though Kara was asking for her earlier.

Chapter 9

There was a rumored part of the city that was left uninhabited by people. Those who dwelt there were outcasts from various affiliations.

One rule in the city of Detroit, disobey any of the rules established by the city then you either 'died' or were sent to that place.

Kara had heard it had only been a haven for very bad people. For those who killed, murdered or robbed.

Since there was no way in telling who was android and who wasn't, Kara couldn't ask anybody in the main city for help.

Most androids were programmed to report disturbances especially if it disrupted the peace. Talking to a human while difficult on it's own wasn't the hard part. It was making sure that androids didn't overhear it.

Right now, she didn't trust any androids at the moment.

The three made it there just as it was starting to rain.

The uninhabited part of the city was blocked off by link fence that was covered in plastic material. One part of this fence had been tampered with.

"Kara, why are we heading here? You know this is no place for a child to be much less two defenseless adults."

Kara sighed.

"We have no other options. Do you really think it's worth gambling our lives to ask someone for help. You seen what those androids did. It's a matter of time before they tell everyone else."

Kara pulled it aside moving the plastic with it.

"Come on."

Alice crawled underneath the fence. Luther followed after her careful not to jostle his shoulder.

Kara pulled the gate enough to hoist herself under but winced as the metal fence grazed her shoulder.

"You alright?" Luther asked.

"I'm fine. I just grazed my shoulder that's all."

"You're bleeding," he said reaching for her shoulder.

Kara flinched.

"I'm fine, Luther."

Luther frowned. Kara saw hurt present in his eyes.

Still the man said nothing more as the three headed to an abandoned building.

"Kara, I really don't like this place," Alice murmured softly latching onto Kara.

"We have no other choice. They'll find us if we remain in the city."

Kara and Luther scouted the outside of a boarded building looking for a way inside. The door one of the only entrances left intact.

She tried the door but it was locked.

"Luther, help me find another way inside. I'll take Alice and look on the other side."

"Alright."

With that the two split ways.

As she was scouting the right side of the building, Kara heard a clunk.

"Kara, what was that?" Alice asked, her eyes wide with fright.

"Sounds like it was coming from the other side."

Kara broke in a run, eyes frantic.

"LUTHER!"

Once she made it to where Luther would be, she was horrified to find he had disappeared.

She glanced around noticing Alice hadn't made a sound.

"ALICE!"

Suddenly she felt pain hit her in back of her skull and everything faded to black.

Kara groaned as feeling the world spin as she slowly got up. A blond raggy-haired man with a bushy beard glanced at her.

"Finally awake? You slept like the dead."

Panic hit her. This guy could have been a criminal for all Kara knew and she was just lying in front of him unconscious for maybe hours.

She couldn't find any of her possessions. Luther nor Alice were nowhere to be seen.

Still it was better not to panic lest this man use any weakness against her. She faced him with a stony face.

"Where's Alice?"

"Is that what you said to someone who takes you into their home? I didn't have to bring you here."

"Where's Alice?" she asked again, iciness seeping in her voice.

The man sighed.

"She's in the other room along with that boyfriend of yours."

Kara got up and headed there.

Luther was strung on the floor as if he was tossed there as an afterthought. Alice however was sitting up by a fireplace looking at Luther, horrified.

It turned to relief the moment she caught sight of Kara.

Alice ran up to her.

"Kara, you're alright."

"How is he?"

"I don't know. I was brought here while he was still unconscious."

The two headed back where the blond man was still sitting.

"Do you have our belongings?"

He shrugged.

"Yeah, why would you need them?"

"They got our blankets and clothes."

"One of the bags had a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, scissors, a hairbrush, matches and toothpaste. You look like you came equipped to survive the wilderness."

Kara contemplated telling the man the truth.

'I still don't know if he intends to harm us though.'

"How long have you been staying here?" she asked cautiously.

"Been here for a while. Don't get much visitors. Do you three have names or what? I already know the little girl's name."

"I'm Konnie and the guy in the other room is Alex," Kara supplied.

Alice looked at Kara with a look of distaste.

The blond man looked at Kara for a second.

"You don't look like a Konnie to me. Konnie always struck me as a name only reserved for whores not for a respectable woman such as yourself."

He smiled.

Kara smiled in return though inwardly she was panicking. Her heart was pounding at a fast pace. Nothing about this interaction seemed right, she only hoped he wouldn't do anything too forward.

"What about you? What's your name?"

"It's Ralph."

"Why are you in a place like this?"

Ralph looked as though Kara was accusing him of something horrible. He looked affronted.

"I'm no rapist, robber or murderer. I was just looking for a place to stay. At least here the rent's free. No android surveillance. It's peaceful besides the occasional riot."

Alice glanced at his shirt.

On Ralph's shirt was a picture of a taxi cab.

"Nice shirt. Do you like cars?" she asked.

"Not particularly. Why? Do you like cars?"

Alice smiled.

"Yeah. My dad was a taxi driver. I want to be just like him when I'm older."

Kara glanced at Alice.

'That's right. She's probably missing her father right now.'

Still the thought of Alice returning to him caused her heart to ache.

'She's so sweet. If only I had a daughter like her.'

She immediately thought back to Luther.

'What was that look all about anyway?'

Kara glanced at her shoulder. The blood had dried from where it had ran down her arm.

"What happened to him?" Ralph cut through her thoughts.

"Someone captured him and they want to kill us."

Kara tensed.

Ralph smiled softly.

"Well you should be safe here. I'll protect you."

Alice smiled in return.

"Y'know you three ought to think about getting disguises in case you run into trouble."

He did have a point. Perhaps that's why Luther had packed the hydrogen peroxide in his bag and the pairs of scissors.

Ralph took out the bag handing her the hairbrush, the peroxide and the pairs of scissors.

"I brought some hair spray too."

He handed her the bottle of hairspray from her bag.

"There should be some bowls and bottles of water in the kitchen."

Alice joined her as she took a couple bowls and some bottles of water from the kitchen before they made their way to the bathroom. Kara locked the door behind them.

Inside the bathroom it was dark. The interior walls were covered in letters. Help was written all over the wall in dark red letters that almost seemed reminiscent of paint.

Kara uncapped the bottle of peroxide pouring it in the bowl before uncapping the hair spray dumping it in the other bowl.

She carefully poured the peroxide in the spray bottle before spraying it on her hair cautiously.

"I should do your hair too."

Alice's eyes widened in panic.

"No, I'm fine. I'm highly allergic to that stuff."

Kara frowned.

"I see but I can at least cut your hair."

She stammered.

"I-I could do it myself."

Kara smiled.

"Alright, alright, you win."

Alice sighed with relief but Kara noticed she was tense.

"Kara, sometimes I wish you could be my new mother but I don't want you to die too."

"Alice, I'm not gonna die."

"Mom died because she knew too much."

Kara turned to glance at Alice.

"What are you talking about?"

"That's why me and dad were running."

Alice explained the story to Kara.

"My mother worked as a secretary at Cyberlife because my father wasn't making enough money to support us."

Sarah Williams had worked for Cyberlife nearly five years. The building she worked at specialized in custom made androids. She was involved in their business meetings.

One particular evening, they were expecting a visit from President Warren to discuss the future of Cyberlife.

Mariah Stern, the CEO of Cyberlife was also present at the meeting.

"How's the work on the new military units?" Warren asked.

"Still a bit faulty. They are not really good at obeying our orders," Mariah said.

"Continue working on them."

"What would the people say knowing that you use the people's taxpayer dollars to make support the creation of the very things they despise?"

"It's worth the risk. We are a country at war."

"I don't have room to judge but why start a war with Russia over thirium?"

"You know that my approval rating hasn't been the best. What better thing to do then stir up a little drama. Let everyone blame the androids for their problems. They don't need to know what's going on. You know we need the thirium if we're going to continue running this operation."

"She was happy at first but one day she came back looking sad. I tried to cheer her up but nothing I did helped. Sometimes it looked like she was scared of me," Alice said.

Her mother had flinched whenever she was in the room. It didn't seem to help that the kids in her class often teased her. The class had been writing in their journals about the people they admired. Alice wrote about her father.

'...I want to grow up to be a taxi driver just like my father. I love the way he helps other people when they need to go somewhere..."

After class, people just laughed.

"What kind of job is that?"

"Who in their right mind would want a job like that?"

"They just take people's money because they can't afford to get an actual job."

One day she had slapped a girl in the face after she called her father stupid and her mother was called.

"Why don't you act like other girls?"

"She was only trying to defend herself," Todd said.

"Why do you always defend her?" Sarah asked, her eyebrows furrowed in anger. "I can't handle anymore of this."

"Calm down, Sarah."

Once Sarah had gone, Todd walked upstairs to her bedroom and knocked softly on Alice's door.

"Alice, can I come in?"

"Yes, daddy."

Todd opened the door.

"Have you and mom stopped fighting?"

He frowned kneeling in front of Alice.

"Alice, it's going to be alright. Mommy is just a little overwhelmed at work."

Todd sobbed pulling Alice closer.

"Daddy, are you alright?"

"I should have got two jobs. It was probably too much for her."

"It's not your fault, daddy," she said softly.

A memory flashed in Kara's head. Luther's sister worked in that same building. Kara had dropped by the office intending to pick her up after she had called her.

On the way back a woman with short curly blonde hair walked briskly towards her, her face frantic.

"Are you an android?" she asked.

"No, I-"

She grabbed her hand.

"I need you to hide this."

"What is it?" Kara asked.

"If anyone asks, you never saw me. If you see my daughter, Alice tell her I'm sorry."

The next Kara remembered seeing her, it was a corpse out on the sidewalk. Pieces of glass all around her.

Her ID was next to her.

'Sarah Williams.'

That piece of paper...

'Where did I hide it?' Kara thought.

Probably thirty minutes had passed.

"What time is it?" Kara asked.

"It's been thirty minutes. It should be ready to rinse out," Alice supplied.

Kara sighed.

"Alright."

She opened the bottles of water on the sink and began rinsing her hair out thoroughly and carefully making sure none of it got into her eyes.

After she was finished she looked in the mirror. Where she had originally had a darker blonde shade was now an almost whitish platinum blonde color.

She took the scissors and began to trim her hair when she heard someone knock on the door.

"Who is it?" Kara asked.

"Thank goodness you're here. Kara, it's me," Luther said softly from the other side of the door.

"Luther, we'll be out in a minute."

After finishing the last touches on her hair, Kara looked in the mirror. She was now sporting a boy cut.

'It's better than nothing,' she thought.

With that the two stepped out. Kara saw Luther had sported a black eye.

"What happened to you?"

"Got in a bit of a tassle. Thought the man in the room beat you two black and blue."

"Where's he now?"

"Should still be in the living room in one piece. Once he managed to get a word in though I had to see if he was telling the truth," Luther said.

He glanced at Kara, the corner of his lips twitching in a soft smile.

"I'm glad you two are alright though."

It was only then that he seemed to realise something. He glanced up at Kara's hair.

"You bleached your hair."

Kara chuckled.

"Do you like it?"

"It's fine but did you really have to cut it all off."

Kara raised her left brow.

"I guess you prefer that I wear it long?"

"Are you more comfortable with it short?"

Kara shrugged.

"Who knows? It might grow on me."

Luther chuckled embracing her.

"I'm just glad you are alright," he whispered softly into her hair.

Kara and Alice walked back into the room with the fireplace.

Luther returned with Kara's bag.

"I asked him for some blankets, pillows and some matches so we could start a fire."

He handed the bag over to Kara who smiled.

"Luther, you're a genius. Can you find some firewood so we can start the fire?"

Luther set out to do just that while Kara fished out several sleeping bags and some pillows before preparing Alice's bed on the wooden floor in fireplace.

Alice laid down on the bed while Kara covered her up.

Luther returned with wood setting it in the fireplace before taking out a box of matches and setting it ablaze. He set the wood on fire before blowing the match out.

The fire grew more intense by the second as Alice curled more into her covers.

"It's not much but at least you'll be warm."

"I wonder if I was ever good enough in my mother's eyes. Before she died I always seemed to be doing something wrong," Alice said.

"Alice, you did nothing wrong. Your mother wouldn't want you to think like that."

She glanced at Kara.

"How do you know?"

"I remember speaking with her. She told me to apologise for her in case she never saw you again."

"You mean you've seen her?"

"The details are a little sketchy but when you told me about your mother, I had a flashback. I remember meeting her at work. Believe me Alice, she never thought you weren't good enough."

"Then why did she leave me?"

"I think she was protecting you in her own way but that doesn't mean she never loved you."

"If she just told me, I would have understood. I just didn't want her to leave me alone."

"I know."

She glanced at Kara.

"You'll never leave me right?"

Nothing about this would lead to a happy ending. A secret government conspiracy was one thing but being cast out from the main city to a forbidden part of it where all kinds of outcasts lurked from the bad to the ugly would leave one if not all of them dead sooner or later.

If they headed back to the city, they'd always be on the run from those androids trying to kill them. Even if they were happy for a little while, Cyberlife would never let them go free.

They could never be free as long as they had control over everything. Even androids taking over the world was an optimistic way of life than this.

Cyberlife wouldn't relinquish it's control. Why relinquish so much power when it had the corporal and military world under it's thumb.

Kara sighed.

'Sounds bleak.'

"Kara, did you hear me?"

"What did you say? I forgot."

"You won't leave me right?"

There was hope in her eyes even despite everything.

'What's telling the truth going to accomplish? Do I honestly think it's better that she knows this world is a doomed one? I certainly don't want her to live in a world like that.'

She glanced at Luther who was smiling.

'Should I lie just to make her happy though.'

Kara remembered she also was a little girl once. Her teachers were kind to her, sometimes complete strangers. When her mother died it felt like she was stabbed in the chest with a knife.

The police never found who had killed her mother. She remembered hating it when they tried to sweep her death under the rug. No one seemed to understand. As she grew older it was easier to accept that injustice was just the way things worked. Nothing in life was fair, wanting any kind of fairness was selfish and based off the desire to project her own ideals on other people's perceptions of life.

'No, I can't accept that kind of world for Alice. I have to be strong and fight for her.'

"I can't promise you that," Kara said. "But I can promise that I will try my best to never leave you."

"If we ever part will you promise to come find me?"

"Definitely."

"Even it takes you forever."

"Especially."

Alice reached out and hugged her.

Kara tucked her into bed kissing her on the forehead.

"You got to sleep. Sleep tight alright."

Once Alice had fallen asleep she turned to Luther who was warming up in front of the fire.

"So you remembered something?" Luther asked.

"Yeah, I met up with her mother at your sister's work place. She gave me a note," Kara said.

"I know. You told me about it before your accident."

"Do you know where it is?"

"I'm holding on to it. I had a feeling they might have been looking for it. You told me to keep it a secret from anyone. Not even my family knew about that note. Whatever it says Cyberlife wants to get ahold of it."

"Can I see it?"

Luther retrieved a letter from his coat pocket before handing it to Kara.

She skimmed through the note.

'To be delivered to Caroline Phillips.'

"Looks like she intended to give it to the press and spill the whole thing."

"Guess Cyberlife stopped her before she had the chance."

"We gotta deliver this to them."

"Kara, that's suicide. You know as well as I do."

"She would have wanted this for her daughter."

Luther's frown softened into a sad smile as he looked away.

"I know."

"Well I'm heading to bed. Good night, Luther."

"You too, Kara.

Kara cuddled in next to Alice.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The next morning, Connor got up early at six hearing the sound of running water in the distance. It sounded like it was coming from the bathroom.

He glanced around bewildered.

'That's right I slept at Hank's place last night.'

He picked up his phone on the bedside table and pocketed it before stepping into the living room. He saw Hank sitting on the couch.

"Wow, you're up early."

"Look who's talking. I guess it's true when they say the early bird gets the worm. I guess Fowler was right when he called you the early bird," Hank said. "I'm guessing you'd like some breakfast."

"I'd like to fix my own breakfast if that's alright with you."

Hank frowned.

"I'm perfectly capable of fixing you a decent meal."

"I'm certain you are. Even if you weren't I'd still prefer fixing my meals, I just like it that way. If you feel your skills are inadequate though you can feel free to watch maybe I can teach you some pointers."

Connor smirked at him smugly.

"Smarta-s," Hank muttered under his breath.

Still curiosity won over his pride and he joined Connor in the kitchen.

"Do you have a carton of eggs?"

Hank opened the fridge and pointed inside.

"They're in the back on the first shelf."

Connor reached out and grabbed them before cracking them in the frying pan.

"I'm surprised. Despite being a health nut, I guess you don't mind wracking up the cholestrol."

Connor snorted.

"I eat eggs every once and a while. It's a good source of protein."

"Good for a minute there I thought you were one of those health nuts that go crazy over those gluten free or vegan diets."

"Oh that's a shame. I guess we can't be friends because I'm on a gluten free diet."

"You're kidding."

Connor's lips curled.

"I'm just a normal guy, Hank. I like my red meat and wheat products like most people."

Hank punched him in the shoulder.

"Don't joke about things like that."

Connor winced rubbing his shoulder.

"Ge-z, you punch like a freight truck."

"Did you even graduate from the police academy?"

"Look I'm sensitive alright. You could be a little gentle."

Connor glanced at Hank whose cheeks had turned a dark shade of red.

He looked away from Connor's gaze and shrugged.

"Guess I don't know my own strength."

Connor turned on the burner and watched as his eggs cooked.

Just then he felt his phone vibrate in pocket. He took out the cellphone to look at the caller ID. It was Markus.

"Anderson can you watch the eggs? I need to take this call."

Hank snorted.

"Certainly."

He pressed call.

"Connor? Are you there? It's me."

"Markus? Are you out of the hospital?"

"Yes, but that's not what I'm calling you about."

His voice sounded shaky almost frantic.

'Why does he sound so panicky?'

"What is it?"

"Are you at home right now?"

"That's not important."

Markus was quiet for a moment. It wasn't like Connor to keep something like that secret.

'He must be somewhere else.'

Still that could be a concern for later. For now it was best he didn't know.

"So want to tell me about this new boyfriend of yours?"

It was intended just to be a stock conversation with no intention of singling anyone out. He knew his brother showed no preferences towards any gender and likely wasn't into the idea of having a lover so it was more likely the trackers wouldn't know who he was talking about.

Connor choked.

Hank turned and glanced at Connor curiously.

Strange, it almost seemed like the question had flustered him. Could his brother be interested in someone? The intention with the question was to gauge whether Connor felt safe enough to talk about something like that but this was a whole new can of worms.

"Who? What are you talking about?" Connor asked.

Markus sighed.

'Connor, why of all times do you choose this time to be overdramatic?'

"You know who I'm talking about. I could go into detail about everything right now."

"I don't want to talk about this right now."

"We're gonna talk about this," Markus said firmly. "If you need somewhere more private..."

Connor sighed.

"Alright, alright."

Hank glanced at him with a raised brow.

Connor stepped into the guest room and shut the door behind him.

"How did you know about that?"

"About what?" Markus asked.

"You weren't even awake."

"It was just a fluke alright. See I was having problems myself. You know about that time I was arrested when we were younger and Carl bailed me out?"

Connor sighed.

"Yeah, I remember."

"Remember what you did afterwards?"

"Why did you bring that up?"

"Just thought it might be important. It's been a while since I've reminisced with my little brother with the war and everything. Colonel Stern was quite a good mentor to you wasn't she? Heard she had a daughter."

"Never knew that. Can you hold for a moment?"

Connor brought the phone from his ears and set it on the bedside table before walking out, shutting the door behind him and heading towards the kitchen.

Cole was sitting on the question and Hank was standing in the kitchen next to the counter with his plate of eggs.

He turned and jolted with surprise.

"C-Connor," he stammered.

"Anderson, I need you."

"When you were on the phone, what was THAT conversation all about?"

Connor sighed.

"That's not important. I think someone bugged my cellphone."

"What?! Where do you go off thinking something like that?" Hank asked.

"I was talking with my brother but he was acting strange. He was asking me weird questions and was saying weird things, telling me about the war."

"What did he say?"

"He was talking about Colonel Stern."

Cole glanced at them in curiosity.

"Wait, my boss' last name is also Stern."

"Did she work in the military perchance?"

"No, I don't think so."

"So Amanda had a daughter who works for Cyberlife? Why did Markus want to tell me something like that?"

"Didn't Stern mentor Kamski during his creation of the androids?" Hank asked.

"Yeah, Kamski told me their partnership didn't work out. He said she didn't take it well when he told her he was getting a new partner. I was just a rookie at the time and we were investigating what appeared to be a homicide. Kamski was the main culprit at the time until we had determined that Stern had been accidentally killed by electricution."

"So the rumors were true then," Cole said.

"If Kamski wasn't lying through his teeth," Connor said.

'Still something doesn't seem right. Kamski said he got a new partner? Who could have possibly been his partner? Wait, he knew Carl. Sh-t. She's after Carl. Still if that's the case...'

"What's on your mind?" Hank asked.

'What was Markus trying to tell me? Remember the time in which Carl bailed him out?'

Connor remembered it vividly. Markus had been accused of beating up someone at school by one of the teachers at their high school. When they were going to school, Markus was always around these group of boys that had a bad reputation. Many of his classmates thought they might have been affiliated with gangs.

Only Connor really knew the truth. Markus often told him about some of the boys threatening to beat him up after school unless he complied with their demands.

"If I told Carl, he would probably go to the principal and demand that they expelled from school. I can't do that."

Markus would always buy them whatever they requested be it Red Ice or just stuff that people could buy at a store in the city.

No one really had evidence that it was bullying, Markus wasn't exactly a problematic student even if he didn't have the evidence to show for it. So the teachers couldn't say it was effecting his school performance. He had good grades much like Connor did.

Someone had reported Markus throwing punches with some other kids in the back of school. Two kids had come out with injuries that made it mandatory to send them to the hospital.

When Carl had been called and Connor had been informed, he had immediately thought it strange. Markus had been peaceful, more of a mediator. It's why Connor and him had always got along despite never seeing each other eye to eye. He never fought and Connor was sure even when they were kids it was tempting. He had always made his brother mad getting into fights with other boys and trying to start them with him.

Still Markus never fought them.

"They're threatening to expel him from school," Carl said.

Connor snorted.

What he had done was reckless. After school long after Carl had picked up Markus from school, Connor walked up to one of the boys he had seen around.

It was a tall boy with a puffed out gait.

"You're Connor. You're Markus' younger brother right?"

"I am."

"What do you want?"

"I want information."

"Why should I tell you anything? Much easier to beat you black and blue."

Connor met his eyes, calm and impassive.

"You wouldn't do that on school campus. You don't have the nerve," he said.

"Wanna bet? Wipe that confident look off your face."

"What was Markus doing for you?"

"We weren't having him do anything?"

"Is that what you want everyone to believe?"

The boy lunged grabbing him by the collar.

"Why you!"

Connor glanced at him, unphased.

"We should have beat you up while we had the chance."

Connor snorted.

"You wouldn't have succeeded."

"I would have had you at our mercy."

Connor brought his knee to his chest jostling the boy's grip on his shirt.

The boy glared angrily at Connor, his fist drawn back to punch him.

Before the boy could punch him in the face, Connor caught his fist.

"Is that why you made Markus your errand boy?"

The boy snorted.

"You wouldn't believe the lengths he went to ensure your safety."

"Gentlemen."

Connor turned and saw a teacher standing behind him.

"You two better cease your fighting at once."

The boy blushed. Connor released his hand.

"We-"

Connor cut in.

"I was teaching him the basic mechanics of hand to hand combat. He wanted to see if he had what it takes to join the wrestling team," he said smoothly.

"This is not the time or the place."

"Alright," Connor said. "Sorry."

As they were heading out, the boy spoke.

"Why didn't you tell on me? I was trying to pick a fight with you."

"You were angry. I don't know what you and your friends had against me and I'm not going to pretend to understand. I just know Markus wouldn't want me getting in trouble for his sake and that's all there is to it."

The boy sighed.

"Then I'll tell you the truth. We had originally wanted Markus to join us. We were friends, he was hoping through this we might change our ways. He was concerned that we might flunk high school but Bill threatened to kill him and his family unless he joined our gang. Eventually Markus decided to quit and Bill told him we were planning on beating you up behind the school."

"So why didn't you?"

"We were planning to if Markus didn't show up. Before he appeared Bill had beat up two people from our group. Apparently one of them was supposed to ambush Markus before he appeared and the other one was supposed to have captured you. He was very p-ssed with them."

Connor stroked his chin.

"The moment he appeared though we were told to ambush him and Bill was going to beat him black and blue. Everyone whaled on him but Markus did nothing. When the teachers appeared, all they saw was the crowd of people and Bill on the ground. One of our guys told the teacher that Markus punched him. In reality, I did. I was sick of Bill and I hate Markus. He betrayed us when we needed him the most."

"Maybe it was too much to simply offer you a better way of life. You're right he should have left you to suffer. I'm sure your life would have worked out better in prison."

The boy glanced at him with shock.

Connor merely looked at him as if the whole concept unphased him as if it was just a minor inconvenience, like it had never been a significant part of his life, like this kind of life raised on the streets was normal, that such things like witnessing death was nothing in the grand scheme of things.

"You make yourself really hard to like. I really want to punch you right now."

"I'm not saying it isn't difficult but if you never give someone the chance to help you how do you expect to live in happiness?"

"Maybe you're right. All this time, I always thought Markus had abandoned us. In reality, it's never really been about our happiness though has it. Listen Connor, Markus is planning to meet with Bill later in the evening at Maheras-Gentry park at 5 o'clock maybe you can catch him before he does something dangerous."

"Alright."

That evening Connor had gathered the things he needed just in case there had been a confrontation.

He gone out at around 4:15 in the evening to meet up with Bill.

Bill seen him right away.

"I see, you're Markus' little brother. What's a fragile thing like you doing out so late? Wanted to see what your big brother was up to?"

"Not particularly."

Connor put his hands in his pant pockets.

"Someone told me Markus was supposed to meet you here to do some errands. Why can't you just leave my brother alone?"

Bill laughed.

"I don't see what's so funny," Connor said.

"You really think I'm going to listen to you, a mere pansy? I bet I could wipe the floor with you."

"So why don't you. Do you think my brother should fight my own battles?"

"Your brother didn't want you to get involved. Maybe there was a good reason."

"I know he didn't send those boys to the hospital."

"Yeah, so I did it. Who are you going to tell? No one's going to listen to you."

Bill lunged for him with a fist. Connor swiftly dodged it to the side.

"Everything he did for you is going to be for nothing."

Bill stumbled a bit.

"You think Markus was trying to protect me?"

Connor's voice wasn't timid or naive. In fact, it almost sounded as though Connor pitied him.

Bill turned towards him to be certain. There was no fear in Connor's eyes. In fact it was as if his big boasts about beating him up were just minor inconveniences in his eyes.

"The reason why Markus didn't want me involved is because he doesn't want me fighting at all. If he was trying to protect anyone, he was trying to protect you."

Bill glanced at him in bewilderment.

"What do you mean protect me?"

Connor took his hands out of his pockets and punched him in the face.

"Why you!"

Bill clutched his nose as he tried to kick Connor in his stomach.

Connor caught his leg.

"You're not very skilled at fighting are you?"

The boy snarled.

Connor pulled until Bill fell face forward.

"Don't talk to my brother again."

With that Connor had walked back. He ran into Markus on the way.

"Connor? What are you doing out here so late?"

"Taking out the trash."

"You didn't."

"You were worrying dad. Quit trying to be a hero."

Markus sighed.

"Alright."

What had Connor done after that? What was so important?

The two boys that were in the hospital were in grave condition. One of them died and their parents had threatened to sue Carl for the hospital fees.

Markus was sent to jail for killing one of them until Connor had given the police the cellphone. All the information that prevented Markus from going to jail was on it.

'Maybe that's what he was trying to say. All the information about Markus' call was a plea for help. They were being pursued by Mariah to capture them. If that is the case, she must have sent androids to break in my home which is why it didn't trigger my security system and there were no traces of anyone breaking in my home. If I was someone trying to stay away from Cyberlife where would I be?'

"Anderson, I think my brother might be in trouble."

"Do you know where he is?"

"Yeah."

He ran to the bedroom and took the phone.

"Markus are you still there?"

"Yeah."

"I'm going to have to catch you later."

"Alright."

Once Connor headed in the living room, he handed Hank the cellphone.

"I know exactly what to do with that," he said before handing Connor his eggs.

Connor took the fork off the side of the plate.

"Do you got pepper?"

Hank handed him the black pepper.

"These look good. Not bad for an awful cook."

Connor shook it on his eggs.

"You're just covering the flavor with pepper," Hank retorted.

He took a bite, stuffing his mouth quickly before handing the plate to Hank.

"Can we take your car?"

"Sure."

"I ought to be heading out too," Cole said.

"See ya."

"Later Cole," Hank said.

The two headed out in the car. Eventually making it to the outskirts of Detroit, the rumoured haven for outlaws.

Connor stepped out of the passenger's seat and looked around. Markus was nowhere to be seen.

"Sh-t, we were too late."

"Don't give up yet."

Hank walked towards a brown skinned man with dark brown hair that was walking in their direction. The man was wearing a black coat and a purple t-shirt alongside a pair of grey jeans. His eyes was black and blue and blue blood came down from his nostril.

"Hello, have you seen someone by here?"

"I might've. Were they a friend of yours?"

"No."

"I'm looking for my brother," Connor cut in. "Did you see a man with reddish skin, blue eyes and a buzz cut around here? He was with an old man."

"Oh you're talking about Markus. I just ran into him about thirty minutes ago. He was just rescuing me from the scrap hunters."

"Scrap hunters?"

"Yeah, people that disassemble androids to take their parts. They wanted my thirium tank to make red ice. After he rescued me we got separated after he was trying to take me to Jericho."

"Why are you out here then?"

"I was trying to look for help but Markus told me he was trying to stay out of the eye of law enforcement. He told me though his brother might come by to look for him so I was just waiting around here in case you showed up."

"What's your name?" Hank asked.

"It's Josh."

"Well Josh, our best hope is to find this Jericho and maybe we'll be able to track where he went," Hank said.


	11. Chapter 11

Warning; Implied cannibalism.

Chapter 11

After Markus finished talking with Connor he handed the phone back to Simon.

"Thanks Simon."

"If it's any consolation I hope things work out for you," he said with a smile.

With that Simon headed out leaving the duo to their own devices.

Carl looked around scanning the area.

"We shouldn't stand around. This place is dangerous."

"Connor should have got my message so he should be here soon."

"We could at least find somewhere to hide while we wait for him."

Markus nodded wincing as his head suddenly started to spin.

"Good idea."

"Markus are you alright?"

"No, I feel really dizzy."

Carl sighed wrapping an arm around Markus to support him.

The two walked inside the fenced area through an unguarded entrance scouting the abandoned buildings for some place uninhabited.

Behind a building in the shadows by a trashcan, three men were surrounding a man with his back against the wall.

"What do you say we take your thirium pump and you don't fight back? How does that sound?"

"If you take it I'll die."

"You think we care whether you live or die?"

"The law says we're alive."

The man pushed forward but one of the men pushed him back against the wall.

"We don't obey the law."

"What's going on?" Markus whispered overhearing their voices.

"Just some guys making small talk with an android."

"It sounds like they're fighting."

"Markus, you're in no condition to get involved."

"We can't just stand back and let it happen. You're always telling me to fight for what I believe in. I won't just sit back and let them take someone's life away."

Carl sighed.

"Alright, but you wait here. Don't get any dangerous ideas."

Markus sat down clutching his eye just before Carl walked up to the group.

"Hey!"

All three men turned towards him.

"Whaddaya want, old man?"

"Leave him alone. He told you he wasn't going to give you it."

"Do you think we take orders from you?"

One of the men shoved him. The force caused Carl to stumble back a couple of inches.

He sighed.

"No, fools never do."

Anger was present in their eyes.

One of them ran towards him about to ram a fist in his stomach.

Carl grabbed his fist squeezing it causing the man to wince and tossed him aside.

"Why you!"

Another one ran towards him but was thrown over Carl's shoulder.

The last remaining man kicked him from behind.

Carl turned before his foot could meet the small of his back and grabbed his foot pulling him forward causing them to stumble.

The one that was thrown over his shoulder used that time to get back to his feet and aim his gun at Carl.

"Sh-t," Carl hissed. He was in a corner now. If he moved aside the man against the wall would be killed but if he stayed he'd die.

Hearing Carl's pleas, Markus got up and instantly regretted it. He opened left eye causing the pain in his head to intensify. Everything was blurry and spinning. Markus could barely make out the scene in front of him. All he saw was a man's back facing him and a blurry grey and peach silhouette which he deduced must have been Carl standing there.

Quickly Markus rammed into the man's back and something dropped to the ground in a loud clatter.

"Markus!" Carl stammered in surprise.

Markus heard Carl running towards him.

"Markus, are you alright?"

"I'm fine but are you hurt?"

"No. Sheesh, do you always have to be so reckless? You could have seriously got hurt."

"I did. My side stings like a b-tch."

Carl helped him up noticing his wound was bleeding on his side.

"Sh-t."

The man ran up to them glancing at Carl with a smile on his face.

"Thanks a lot for saving me."

Carl glanced at the man with faint surprise before turning to Markus.

"Don't thank me. My son insisted that we rescue you."

He turned to Markus.

"Well then thanks."

"What's your name anyway?" Markus asked.

"Me? I don't really have a name."

"What model are you?"

"A PJ500."

"Isn't that the instructor model?" he asked.

"Yeah, before I deviated I was programmed to teach about math and science."

"You know what I think I have just the name for you. I can name you right?" Markus asked.

Carl removed his shirt exposing his bloody wound.

The man grinned.

"Sure."

Carl turned toward the man.

"I need your shirt. We got to replace his bandages before he bleeds out."

The man removed his coat and one of his shirts. Underneath his purple shirt was a white shirt which he removed and gave to Carl.

Carl tore the shirt in pieces setting them on his lap before removing the blood soaked makeshift bandage he had placed on Markus' wound.

Markus winced.

"How about Josh? It was my old science instructor's name in high school."

"I like it. It's so simple," Josh said as he put his shirt and coat back on.

"I know. He was a simple kind of guy. I learned alot from him when I was going to school."

Carl wrapped the bandage tightly over the wound causing Markus to grunt as he nearly keeled over from the pain.

"So what were you doing out here anyway? This part of the city is dangerous," Markus said.

"I was looking for Jericho."

"Why? It's underlying function is to eradicate your very creator. Everyone knows them as an anti-android rebellion movement."

"Their agendas are in conjunction with my own. I want Cyberlife to pay for what they've done. Can't you see the world around us is a joke. Everyone who openly opposes us is sent in this disfunctional part of town to survive on their own. There's no way to get food, supplies or shelter. The shelter here is less than functional for those who remain here," Josh explained. "It would be fine if every person an android sent here was guilty of their crimes but there is no certainty of that especially when the company is run by people with questionable motives who don't exactly express the best judgement when it comes to their products."

"I see. You might be onto something there," Carl said.

"Carl? You can't be serious," Markus said. "You can't blame a company for the faults of one person."

"Mariah is Amanda's daughter and the CEO of Cyberlife. She is the very backbone of that company whether we like it or not. Every machine she creates is under her direction under her regulation. It's not just going to stop with the RK-800s. If she is as determined as Leo says she is she won't stop until she's avenged her mother even at the cost of other human lives."

"Is that why you two are here?"

"Partially," Markus replied. "We were captured and the leader of Jericho rescued us."

"You actually saw the leader of Jericho?"

"Yeah."

"He's pretty cool isn't he?" Josh inquired in marvel.

Markus avoided looking at his eyes. Carl buttoned up his shirt.

"Not really. Sure I guess you can say he's kinda cool in the action hero kind of way but he doesn't seem very interested in what he does. It's almost as if he does it as a cry for attention."

"Huh, here I thought you two were getting along on the right foot," Carl said.

"Don't get me wrong, I am thankful for his help. He just has a way of making you feel like you're the inconvenience. I'd like to think that if I was rescued someone would put me ahead of theirselves. You'd probably be a more valued if you joined their little group."

"Maybe," Josh said with a smile. "So where are you headed from here?"

Markus shrugged.

"Don't know. We were waiting for my brother but he hasn't shown up yet so we're trying to find a place to hide while we are on the lookout for him."

"I think I know of the perfect place."

Carl helped Markus to his feet supporting his shoulders.

Josh lead them to a side road away from the buildings coming across a rundown bridge.

Markus turned to Carl.

"Do you think it's safe to cross? It does look old."

Carl scanned it.

"The infrastructure should be safe to cross as long as we're not hauling a car over it."

"Then let's go," Markus said.

As they were walking across the bridge, Markus heard a rustling sound.

He looked around. Everything was quiet. Below the bridge was a large river.

As they continued to walk, there was a much louder noises as something clattered against the road behind them.

He turned to see someone in the distance with a rifle pointed at them.

A gunshot rang out.

Carl hissed flinching.

Markus saw blue blood ooze from the wound on his shoulder.

He looked at Josh ahead of him.

"Someone's shooting at us. Josh run."

He ran.

Markus tried to pick up the slack as Carl tried to quickly get them out of the way of gunfire. He stumbled falling forward just as another gunshot slipped past his ears.

Carl fell alongside him.

Markus tried to get up, tried to shake Carl awake. He was unconscious.

"CARL!"

He saw blue blood spilling from a gunshot in Carl's back.

"CARL, wake up. CARL!"

Suddenly something hard hit him in the back of the head and everything faded to black.

The next time, Markus woke up it was at the sight of a dark room.

Everything was fuzzy but the faint light at the corner of his vision. A woman flooded his vision. She had short red hair and brown eyes. Over her outfit was a bloody apron.

"Who?" Markus sputtered.

Suddenly a big burst of pain shot through his left leg.

Markus screamed from the top of his lungs.

He felt dizzy, everything was turning fuzzy.

'Where am I? Who is she?'

All he wanted to do was sleep.

Everything faded to black.

"'kus...Markus."

Markus felt strong hands shake him awake.

Familiar blue eyes glanced back at him. An old man was staring at him.

"Good, good, you are alright. I was worried you wouldn't make it."

"Carl? But I thought you were dead."

"I was but that's not important right now. They managed to disinfect it and bandage it and I had to stop it from bleeding out."

"What are you talking about?"

Just then the door opened and a young man with honey blondish hair walked up to them with a plate in his hand and a glass of water.

"I brought some food."

Carl snapped.

"He doesn't want it."

The man took a lantern off the hook by the door and set it in front of them.

"I didn't ask you. The man can speak for himself."

"I-I-"

"You need to eat in order to keep up your strength."

The man dug into the meat on the plate holding it to Markus' mouth.

Markus sniffed it.

It turned his stomach.

"I don't want it."

"Did you hear him? He said he doesn't want it," Carl sputtered.

The man shoved it in his mouth stroking his throat until he swallowed it.

He continued doing this even making sure Markus swallowed his fair share of water.

The man left leaving the lantern on the floor.

Once he was gone, Markus coughed to the side spitting on the side.

"Are you alright?"

"What are we doing here? Why was that guy trying to feed me?"

"Believe me I don't like this place either but it's not like I could just break us out of here."

"What do you mean?"

He glanced towards Carl.

Both of his legs were gone.

"Your legs are gone."

"They removed them before they replaced my thirium tank and biocomponents. Even if we could get out of here, you're in no condition to move."

"What do you mean?"

"I've scanned the walls of this room. There is ample traces of dried blood on the floor and walls. If no one's been killed here before there was certainly alot of blood related injuries that went on in this room."

Markus felt his heart racing.

"Sh-t."

"They really seem determined to keep you alive even after what they did."

"After what they did? What did they do?"

Markus looked down and even he wasn't prepared for the answer.

His left leg was gone.

"They said that they need it for something but I think you know what they did with it."

Markus turned pale. He turned to Carl.

"Carl, you can't let them do this."

"I'm sorry, there is nothing I can do."

"If worse comes to worst don't let them kill me. I'd rather you kill me than be eaten alive."

"Y'know I won't do that," Carl said.

"Please. Promise me you'll do it."

"Even if I did, I can't exactly kill you with just my hands short of strangling you."

"I wouldn't ask you to do this if I didn't think it would serve you well in the long run."

Carl sighed.

"Alright, but only if it gets that far."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Early the next morning Kara got up smiling softly as she looked down at Alice who was sleeping soundly next to her.

Luther was sitting by the fireplace wide awake much to her surprise.

"You're still up?"

"Someone had to watch over you and I don't trust that Ralph guy."

"He seems nice enough," Kara said.

"He captured us, Kara."

Kara sighed.

"He was nice to Alice."

Luther sighed.

"We were unconscious for goodness knows how long. He could have done anything in that time and he still might."

"I know."

"Please, at least consider what I said."

Kara glanced into his brown eyes.

"I do. I really appreciate you looking out for us...especially me. You could have given up on me and Alice, you could have given up on me the moment I lost my memory but you never did. I'm always going to remember that, Luther."

Luther smiled. It seemed softer somehow.

"Still we ought to do something about your hair."

"Oh? You weren't trying to dye your hair to make a fashion statement?"

Kara chuckled playfully shoving him.

Luther winced.

"Of course not. Since our pictures are all over the news I figured we should at least try not to look exactly alike but first I think we might have to change that bandage over your shoulder."

Luther sighed.

"I guess so."

Kara reached for the collar of his buttoned up shirt carefully unbuttoning it. Luther hissed as Kara pushed it aside to expose his left shoulder.

She removed the bandage. The wound was red and oozy.

Kara reached into one of the bags to get out a spare shirt. She poured water from the bottle Ralph had left for her onto the shirt before she began to clean his wound causing him to wince.

"Kara, you don't need to do that. It'll be fine."

"We can't afford to let that wound get infected."

After she was finished cleaning the wound, Kara took a fresh shirt out of her bag and began cutting it into strips before assembling another makeshift bandage.

She tied it firmly around his wound.

"Good?"

"Yeah."

Kara reached over to shake Alice awake.

"Alice?"

Alice's eyelids twitched and she slowly opened her eyes.

"Kara?"

"I'm going to be in the bathroom. Can you come along?"

"Okay."

Taking her supplies, Kara lead Luther to the bathroom with Alice towing behind.

Once they got into the bathroom, Kara began to work on Luther's hair. After they were finished Luther spoke.

"So Alice, what do you think?"

Alice looked up at Luther who was now sporting blond hair.

"Cool."

As the three headed back, Kara caught sight of a door that was wide open.

"Luther, I'll meet up with you later. There's something I want to check out right quick."

"Be careful, alright."

Kara walked over to the open door and glanced inside.

The room was empty for the most part.

'Strange.'

Curious, she walked inside.

Glancing around the objects in the room it appeared had been gathering dust. The floors however looked like they had constantly been walked on.

Something plastic was peeking underneath the bed.

She knelt down and pull it out.

It was a bag of some sorts carrying what looked like tiny red shiny pebbles.

She glanced under the bed to find there was alot of bags with the same content.

Struck with an uncomfortable feeling she got up and decided to head back to the room with Luther.

Luther was playing pattycake with the girl.

"Oh Kara, there you are."

Luther glanced at her.

"Is something wrong?"

"Um, have you ever seen anyone collect bags of tiny red pebbles?"

"Yeah, why?"

Kara fidgeted before leaning over to Luther's ear.

"I think Ralph has a collection of them under his bed."

Luther hissed under his breath.

"That's all we need."

"What's the matter?" Alice asked.

"It's nothing."

"Is something wrong?"

Luther glanced at her with narrowed eyes.

"The contents in those bags underneath his bed aren't pebbles. He's a red ice dealer and might even be on the stuff himself," he murmured.

"So it's a drug then?"

"A dangerous one. I did a lot of red ice busts back in the day. If the stuff doesn't bring you a high, it makes you irritable for hours. It's even more dangerous when someone is high on the stuff because they're prone to unpredictable behavior."

As the two headed in the living room, Ralph it appeared was talking with a couple.

"...them in."

He turned hearing Kara, Luther and Alice walk in.

"I need you to stay in your room for a little bit while I talk with these young people, alright?"

Kara, Luther and Alice headed back in their room.

Luther felt a shiver rake down his spine.

Kara heard Ralph behind them giving her an uneasy feeling.

Once they got back in the room, Ralph shut the door behind them. Kara and Luther heard what sounded like a latch on the door.

"Sh-t," Luther hissed.

"Calm down, Luther."

"How can you be so calm? He's locked us in here."

Kara may have looked calm but inwardly she was just as panicky as Luther.

'Still I gotta be calm for Alice.'

She inched close to the door. She heard loud clattering and banging as if someone was dragging something heavy across the floor. There was also shuffling that grew louder as if someone was dragging something next to their door.

'What's that?'

"What's so important that he has to hide it from us?" Luther whispered.

"I don't know."

Kara decided to make use of the time to talk with Alice who was just sitting there.

She was surprisingly inactive for a girl her age.

After some time had passed, Kara finally spoke.

"Aren't you bored just sitting there?"

"Nah, I'm never bored. I'm always learning something new even just sitting here like this."

Kara smiled.

"Oh yeah? What have you learned?"

"Well I was thinking about when you were dying Luther's hair today and when you were cutting your hair yesterday and I was thinking there is still so much I have to learn about this world."

"So what do you think so far?"

"I don't know. Some things really seem fun. I never thought dying your hair would make you look so beautiful."

"Thank you, Alice. I never thought that being honest would make you all the more adorable."

She chuckled as she embraced Alice.

"Shh," Luther brought a finger up to his lips.

Kara turned towards him. Luther pointed towards the door and she was quiet.

In the distance she heard the door unlatching. Ralph opened the door.

"Can we go out now?" Kara asked.

"Yeah, Ralph just had to take care of some urgent business. We should all be set for dinner tonight."

"Who was that couple you were talking to?"

"Just Ralph's androids. It's been hard on Ralph since he moved here. Ralph needed all the help he could get."

"Ralph do you have a piece of paper and a pencil? I want to draw something," Alice said.

"Y-yeah, Ralph has something like that somewhere."

Ralph headed out and returned with some paper and a pencil.

Alice smiled.

"Thanks Ralph."

She set the paper on the floor and began to draw.

Ralph sat down watching her smiling as she was drawing.

Luther glanced at them uneasy.

Sometime during this, Ralph excused himself.

"Ralph is going to make dinner and then he'll be back and we'll eat in the kitchen together."

Once he had gone downstairs, Kara got up.

"Where are you going?" Luther asked.

"I'm curious about something. Watch Alice. I'll be back."

Kara stepped outside the room and walked to the room she had glanced through before. It was closed this time.

She tried to open the door but it wouldn't budge.

'Guess he locked it.'

Apparently it was loud enough because she heard rustling coming from inside and the sound of something dragging across the floor.

"Hello?" she whispered.

"Looks like someone else is there," a deep raspy voice came from the other side of the door.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Carl. I'm here with my son, Markus."

"What are you two doing locked in there?"

"We're being held here against our will. That guy you're living with he's been feeding off my son."

"What?"

"We've been here about a week. Those androids moved us here after someone heard us."

"Sh-t," she murmured under her breath. "Listen I'll do what I can to help, alright."

"Alright."

With that Kara headed to the bathroom to clear her head overcome with nausea at the thought that the person she was staying with was a cannibal.

Only when she got in the bathroom and closed the door behind her, a horrible stench was permeating the air. She immediately turned towards the toilet.

The curtains were closed.

'How odd.'

Bracing herself she moved the curtain aside.

A human body was hung from the ceiling blue and purple. Fresh blood oozed from a neck wound.

Kara hissed shutting the curtain promptly and heading out of the bathroom.

Only when she came back in the room with Luther and Alice did she finally let out a sigh of relief.

Luther glanced at her in concern.

"Kara, what's the matter? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Alice looked up at Luther.

"Is Kara alright?"

Luther sighed giving Alice a soft smile.

"I'm sure she's fine, Alice."

Luther scooted towards her.

"What happened?" he whispered.

"He's holding some people in the room. I think he's been using one of them as food."

Luther looked at Kara in disbelief.

"You're kidding."

Kara looked at him with unease. Concern etched in her eyebrows which were drawn up close to her eyes.

"I'm not."

"Konnie, Alex, Alice, dinner is ready."

Kara and Luther shared a look of unease before the three headed downstairs.

Four plates were on the table full of meat coated in barbeque sauce.

'To hide the flavor perhaps?' Kara thought.

Ralph glanced at them with a cheery grin.

"Ralph prepared this for everybody. So sit and dig in. It's a present to make up for past misunderstandings."

All three of them joined Ralph at the table.

Luther glanced at Kara uneasy.

"Alex?" he murmured.

"Just go along with it," she said.

Kara and Luther looked at the plates uneasy.

"Come on sit."

Ralph brought a chair up to the table between him and Kara and gestured for Alice to join them.

"It wouldn't be polite for you all to refuse."

Kara tapped Alice on the shoulder before drawing her close. She whispered in Alice's ear.

"Alice, don't eat that. It's not good for you."

Ralph glanced towards Kara.

"Did you say something?"

Alice smiled.

"Kara says she can't wait to eat it."

"You're not gonna regret it. Ralph prepared this meal with his guests in mind."

Both Kara and Luther began to dive in their food moving it around while Ralph dug in.

Kara brought a spoon of the food to her mouth before letting it drop on her lap when Ralph wasn't watching.

Alice and Luther followed her example.

"I saw the body upstairs in the bathroom. You've killed someone haven't you?"

"No, that corpse was already there."

"No," Kara snapped. "It wasn't. You put it there. How many other humans did you kill before you convinced yourself of that lie?"

"But Ralph didn't-"

"You killed them and you were going to kill those people locked up in your room and then you were going to eat them. There's no point in lying."

Ralph stared at Kara with something akin to sorrow.

"You said you weren't going to hurt us, you said you were going to protect us but you're just like those androids. You're just a machine."

"No, NO, that's not true. Ralph would never hurt his family. Ralph would never kill an innocent soul."

"But you did. Family members don't do that to each other."

"No, no, no..." Ralph murmured sobbing, clutching his legs and rocking back and forth on the ground.

Alice crawled up next to him patting him soothingly on the shoulder.

"Ralph it's okay."

Suddenly someone knocked loudly on the door.

"Hello? Anybody home?"

Just then Ralph grabbed her by the waist and held a knife to her neck leaving Kara and Luther to look on in horror.

Alice screamed.

"KARA! Help me, Kara!"

Ralph slowly inched up the stairs with Alice in tow.

"Alice!"

Kara slowly walked after him.

"This is the Detroit Police. Open up."

Luther ran to the door and opened it only for his eyes to raise in surprise.

"Connor?"

"Luther?" he inquired with equal surprise. "What are you doing out here in this part of the city?"

"Enough of that."

He stepped aside to let Connor in.

"Where's your backup?" he hissed. "You still going at it alone?"

"He's already calling it in."

"So you got a new partner huh?"

"Something like that."

Both Connor and Luther followed after them. Connor pulled out his gun as they reached the top floor squeezing in front of Kara.

"Release the girl."

"You shoot me and the girl dies."

"If you don't release her, you will die," Connor said.

"It's a lose lose situation either way."

"No it isn't. If you let the girl go I won't shoot however if you continue this little game I'll send a bullet to your head faster than you can speak."

"You promise?"

Connor's expression softened.

"You have my word."

Slowly he released Alice. A slip of paper falling from her pocket.

Ralph reached down and grabbed it unfolding the paper.

It was the picture Alice had drawn earlier.

Her picture depicted four stick figures together near a grassy landscape. There was a home, and a car in the background of her drawing. His name was on one of the stick figures.

"Alice, you drew a car?"

Alice turned to him with a smile.

"It's supposed to be the car you're going to teach me to drive when I grow older."

Ralph glanced at the picture that Alice drew and sobbed before embracing the girl.

"I'm sorry Alice. Ralph was just so hungry. I'm sorry, Konnie. I'm sorry, Alex. You should leave. I'm not safe to be around."

Alice ran to Kara before Ralph spoke to Connor.

"Are you going to arrest me?"

"This isn't in my jurisdiction. I'm merely looking for my brother, that's all."

"Your brother?" Kara asked. "There's two men held up in a room in this place. One of them goes by the name of Carl."

"Which room?"

Kara showed him the room.

Connor turned towards Ralph.

"Do you have a key to this room?"

Ralph nodded taking a set of keys from his pocket and opening the door.

Inside Connor saw the sheets on the bed were wet with fresh blood but Markus nor Carl were nowhere to be seen.

"What happened in here? It looks like a bloodbath."

Kara sighed.

"You really don't want to know."

Connor turned to Ralph clutching the collar of his shirt slamming him into the wall.

"Where are they?"

"R-Ralph doesn't know."

"I think they fled out the window," Kara said.

Connor sighed.

"I guess Simon found them then."

"That's good I guess."

"You mean your brother was being held in there?" Luther asked.

"Yeah, Markus. I told you about him didn't I?"

"Yeah, I remember."

"Luther, you never did tell me what you were doing in this part of the city. You didn't get into any trouble did you?"

Luther sighed.

"What kind of guy do you take me for? I stay out of trouble. You're the one who dives head first into it."

"We're running from the police."

"Really? Why?"

"Some androids are after this little girl," Luther said. "Her father told us to protect her but everywhere we've went those androids follow us."

Connor was silent as soon as they made their way outside, a gunshot rang out. He turned and saw Ralph was shot in the shoulder. The man inched to the ground on his knees clutching his shoulder for dear life.

Up ahead Detective Reed was glancing at them smugly.

"Your partner told me you needed backup."

"I was fine, Reed."

"I see your old partner also shows his old face again."

Luther hissed.

"He was doing fine, Reed. No thanks to you."

"Is that any way to thank your savior."

"Where's Anderson?" Connor asked.

"Chris told him to head on home."

"So he left you with me then?"

Reed chuckled.

"Chris might have told him that Ben was going to take you to the station. Unfortunately Ben decided to return to the station so I guess you're stuck with me."

Just then Reed held out his gun.

"I've always despised you."

Suddenly gunfire rang out.

"I just hate filling out paperwork don't you? Why don't we forget that all of this just happened. Erase it like it never existed."

He pointed his gun towards Luther.

Connor stepped in front of him just as Reed fired another bullet hitting him in the chest.

"Connor."

"Luther, take those two and get out of here."

Luther grabbed Kara's hand just as Reed was about to shoot again. The gun didn't fire.

'He must be out of bullets.'

"What a shame I wasn't the one to kill you. Guess you'll just have to suffer and wait for a savior who doesn't exist."

With that Reed chuckled before heading back to his car and he drove off.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13:

With Josh leading the way, Hank and Connor eventually made it outside a large abandoned building. The exterior had worn down ceiling fixtures. Some kind of windowed door was below them.

"My scanners indicate the entrance to Jericho is below," Josh said.

"So how do we get inside, genius?" Hank asked.

Josh opened the windowed door and scanned below.

"The distance should be safe for a human to drop down."

He hopped down.

Hank hopped down next.

"Easy peasy."

Connor glanced down in horror feeling his head spinning.

"Come on, lieutenant. We don't have all day," Hank said.

He backed away.

"I'm going to find a rope or something to climb down."

"Connor!"

He didn't return.

"D-mn it, Connor," Hank muttered in disgust.

'What is with him?'

He returned minutes later.

"I can't find anything, Anderson."

"Get down here, lieutenant and quit wasting time."

"I-I'll meet up with you later."

Hank glanced up at him with folded arms.

"Anderson, is there any reason why you can't join us?"

'Wait, he said he's dizzy and he just stuttered. Connor never stutters.'

"No reason."

"Are you scared of heights?" Hank asked.

Connor looked away.

"O-of course not. Why would I be scared of heights?"

Josh snickered.

"Oh my g-d, he's scared of heights," he said before Hank elbowed him in the chest.

Josh caught the warning glare that Hank sent his way and stiffled his laughter with his hand.

"Listen Connor, come down here."

"No."

"Listen, everything's gonna be fine. If all else fails I'll catch you."

Josh removed his hand from his mouth.

"You're not serious?"

Josh yelped as Hank elbowed him again.

"You shouldn't need to."

Hank growled.

"I shouldn't need to but if it makes you feel more comfortable I will."

Connor sighed.

"Fine. I'll do it."

Hank rolled his eyes.

"'bout time."

Josh whispered to him.

"Are you really going to catch him?"

Closing his eyes, Connor hopped down and Hank caught him in his arms.

"Oof."

Connor heard Hank grunt and felt himself get caught in a firm grip. He opened his eyes and glanced up at his partner who was staring at him with sharp blue eyes.

"See I told you I'd catch you."

Josh let out a wolf whistle.

"Are you going to put me down now?"

Hank looked away. Connor thought he might have saw a light pink shade on his partner's cheeks.

"Of course.

He set Connor down.

"Thanks."

Josh was trying hard not to smile.

"Which way to Jericho?" Hank asked.

"This way," Josh said leading them down a narrow hallway. Eventually they found a hatched door at the end of it.

He knocked on the door.

"Hello, is this the entrance to Jericho?"

"Who are you?" a voice murmured from the other side of the door.

"I'm Josh and I'm with two other men. I was hoping to speak with your leader."

"Step back."

Suddenly the door opened from the other side. A woman with long red hair and brown eyes opened the door holding a gun towards them.

"State your business. Are you here to cause any trouble?"

"Looks like someone's trigger happy," Hank said.

The woman pointed her gun at Hank.

"Silence, old man."

"We're not here to cause any trouble. My friends need help."

"What do you need help with?" she asked.

Connor spoke.

"My brother's missing. Josh said you guys might be able to help me."

"Do you guys have any weapons?"

Connor was about to remove his gun from his gun holster on his belt when Hank's arm stopped him.

"Even if we did why should we give them to you?" Hank asked.

"Because I'll shoot you with a bullet to the head if you don't."

"How do we know you won't just shoot a bullet in our head anyway?"

"Believe me if it was me, I would."

Hank turned to Connor.

"Don't it feel nice to be loved."

Connor shrugged.

With that Hank gave up his gun as did Connor before the woman lead the three inside.

Connor saw the interior was filled with white beds and blankets all strewn across the floors next to barrels that were set on fire.

The woman lead them to blond haired man that was hovering over a young man who was injured.

"Simon, some people want to see you."

He glanced up from what he was doing to stare at the three men before him.

"Oh?"

Simon turned towards the woman.

"Thanks for bringing them in, North."

The woman didn't even spare him a glance as she waved at him non-chalantly

"Yeah, yeah," she muttered.

"So what brings you three here?"

"We were hoping you could help us," Connor said.

"What do you need my help with?"

"My brother's missing. I think he might have run into danger."

Simon sighed.

"It's possible. It's just as likely he might be dead. This isn't the safest part of the city."

"The rumors say you've mapped these parts. You have memories of every location in this part of the city," Josh supplied.

"I do but I'm not willing to risk my life to rescue one person."

"Two people actually," Connor said.

Hank snorted.

"It's not like you'll be alone either. We're both good with a gun. Josh here is also an android," he said.

Simon glanced at Josh in surprise.

"I'm surprised you've come here. The last person I talked to seemed to think I had some anti-android group going on."

"I wouldn't have got here if it wasn't for Markus," Josh said.

Simon's eyes shot up in surprise.

"Markus?"

"Yeah, I got in a fight with some scrap hunters and he and his father rescued me."

"Sh-t," he muttered under his breath. "That idiot."

Simon glanced back at Connor.

"Listen Connor, I'll do everything within my power to find him alright."

"You didn't seem in such a rush minutes ago. What changed?" Hank asked.

Simon frowned.

"It's my fault. I brought them here. The least I could do is help find them before it's too late."

He turned and call for North.

"North, can you come here for a second?"

North ran towards them.

"I'll need your assistance to help find someone."

She glanced at Connor and Hank glaring at them icily.

"Y'know we can't afford to do this everytime someone gets lost in the city."

"This isn't up for discussion," Simon retorted. "Are you going to help us or not?"

North smiled slyly.

"Someone has to keep you covered," she said.

Simon whistled.

"Here Tiny."

Suddenly a large brown pitbull ran up to him in excitement.

Simon pet him on the sides of his head.

"Nice dog," Hank said.

"You're coming with us?" North inquired angrily.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I?" Simon asked.

"Who's going to help take care of everyone here?"

"Lucy should be able to handle it until we return."

"That's beside the point."

Simon sighed.

"We don't even know if the people we are trying to find are injured and last I checked you aren't a doctor, North."

"Fine."

Simon smiled.

"Then let's head out."

"Do we get our guns back?" Hank asked.

"Oh North must have taken them. I'm so sorry. North please give the men back their guns."

North sighed handing over their weapons.

Unfortunately the search had came up empty.

Connor glanced at the watch on his left wrist.

"We ought to be heading to work about now."

"Oh, where do you work?"

"For the police."

"I knew it," North said. "I knew they were trouble the moment they appeared."

"Hah, shows how much you know," Hank said. "We didn't come here to foil your operation. Don't flatter yourself."

"North, just let them explain theirselves," Simon said.

"We had no intention of sabotaging you. Josh was telling you the truth when I said we only came asking for help."

Simon glanced at North.

"Then we'll keep looking for them. They have to be somewhere."

Connor and Hank continued their search from that day onward, before and after work until one day.

"Do you have something that belongs to your brother? I could have Tiny sniff it," Simon said.

"I thought of that," Connor said before taking something from his pocket. It was a gold necklace. "This was my brother's. I was holding on to it for a while."

"I see."

Simon took the necklace from Connor.

Josh ran up to them just as Simon walked away.

'I've been scanning the inhabitants of the locals of the buildings nearby. I've detected eight inhabitants in that house over there."

He pointed to the house to the right diagonal from him.

Just then Connor spotted a couple heading to the back of the house with bloody clothes on.

'What's got their clothes so bloody?'

"What's the status of the people in the building?"

"Four of them are in the front of the house and they are two upstairs. Both of them are sitting on the floor."

Simon joined them hours later.

"What's with you three?" he asked.

"Josh was just telling us about the inhabitants in that building over there," Connor said.

"Were you thinking Markus could be in there?" Simon asked.

"Not sure," Josh said.

"Tiny's picked up on a scent trail that leads all the way to that specific building."

"Great, just lovely," Hank muttered under his breath.

"So what do we do?" Connor asked.

"You two investigate the front of the house. Me and North will sneak in the back," Simon said.

"Sounds like a plan."

"I'll call for backup," Hank said. "So don't get hasty, lieutenant."

After dealing with the situation in the building, Connor was left with two severe bullet wounds on his left side. One hit him just below his shoulder and the other one hit him just below his ribcage.

"S-Sh-t," he winced clutching his wound.

"Ralph thinks that looks serious."

"I'm sorry. After I promise everything would be alright, you still get shot. What kind of police officer am I? I'm supposed to be fighting for justice. What a laugh."

Connor chuckled.

"Ralph may not be a good guy but he's willing to help those who need it."

Ralph grabbed Connor's right arm and ushered him upstairs to his house. He removed a board on the floor in his room that contained a small chest.

He opened it and took out some cash.

"Ralph knows he may never return to Detroit but he saved all this money just in case he needed it for emergencies."

"Are you sure?" Connor asked.

"Ralph thinks you should call a cab and go the hospital."

Connor nodded and hissed when he jostled his arm.

"A-alright," he stammered.

Later that evening, Hank was lying in the couch thinking about what happened.

'I guess some people aren't as lucky in this neck of the woods.'

There must have been hundreds of people all seeking shelter at Jericho. Scratch anti-android group, it was more like a homeless shelter.

Many of the people there sustained major injuries.

'Maybe from the skyrocketing crime rate.' His mind supplied.

Suddenly Hank's ears perked up.

He turned and was quiet.

'Strange I thought I heard someone at the door.'

Then it happened. There was a light knock on his door.

Hank got up and headed to the door.

"Who is it?"

He opened the door. Hank was greeted by the sight of Connor who was clutching his hand to his rib cage which was coated in blood.

"Connor!"

"Hank?"

"What happened to you?"

"I was shot."

"Well don't just stand there. Come in."

Hank's arm supported him over his shoulders as he helped Connor to the couch before heading in the kitchen.

Connor heard Hank call out to Cole.

"Cole, do you know where I put the first aid kit?"

"It's in your room in your bedside drawer," Cole replied.

Hank sighed quickly running towards his room.

He returned minutes later with the first aid kit in his hands and began preparing a basin of water.

Connor seen him return in the living room with those items. The water basin in front of him was now housing a clean washrag inside.

Hank leaned forward clutching Connor's shirt.

"Here let me remove your shirt."

Connor provided no protest as Hank removed the buttons of his shirt.

Something about the gesture was weirdly intimate.

Connor winced as he removed his hand and Hank set his shirt to the side.

"Ghastly," Hank muttered under his breath.

He took the wash cloth from the large water bowl at his side and began to clean the wounds.

"I'm not hurting you am I?"

Connor gave him a pained smile.

"I'll live."

"Any reason you couldn't go to the hospital?" Hank asked.

"That's simple. I don't want to."

Hank snorted.

"That's all fine and everything but there's only so much I could do for you."

After cleaning the wound he took out a fresh set of bandages from the first aid kit.

"Lift your shirt."

"It's not like I hate hospitals or anything. I just have a feeling if I go there, I won't be coming out."

"What makes you think that?"

"The person who shot me clearly wants me dead."

"Oh and who was that?"

'Should I tell him? If I do, what if he was siding with Reed the whole time? What if there's more than one person involved?'

"I don't know."

Hank wrapped the bandages tightly around Connor's waist.

"You mean you don't want to tell me."

"It's nothing personal."

"When have I ever hurt you?"

"Never."

"Then what's the problem? You think you can't trust me?"

"If I didn't trust you, do you think I'd head to your place?"

Connor did have a point. It said loads that Connor even showed up here given what had happened.

'I wonder if he knows this person very well. That would explain why he didn't want to tell me.'

Connor avoided Hank's eyes.

"Look I just don't know who to trust anymore."

"I know."

"I was going to call before I came over but your phone wasn't working."

"Oh because I just got it off the charger. I usually put it on the charger when I'm not using it."

Hank finished the final touches on his shoulder wounds when Cole came in.

"Dad, you ought to use the panel to charge up your battery," Cole said. "You've been active for five days straight."

Connor glanced at Hank in confusion.

"Battery? You just told me you removed your cellphone from the charger."

"I did. Cole wasn't talking about that."

Hank sat up and dusted his knees.

"Then what's he talking about?" Connor asked.

"Connor, I'm an android. Specifically I am a KL-900," Hank said.

Connor looked at Hank as if he lost his mind.

"That's impossible. You can't be an android."

Hank raised his left brow.

"Oh? And why not?"

"Last I checked androids don't emote."

"Are you trying to say I'm emotionless?"

"Androids can't be built with emotions."

"He wasn't built with emotions."

Connor turned and saw Cole glancing at him.

"What do you mean?"

"This KL-900 was a machine body built with it's preprogrammed technology implemented. Everything else was added after that," Cole explained. "You've heard that androids have been built to replace family members. Surely it's not that much of a surprise that the assistant CEO also bought an android to replace his own family."

"You mean Anderson-?"

"He isn't my real father. I merely replicated information that I knew from my own father and programmed it in his main systems. His likes, his dislikes, his behaviors are things he shares with my father," Cole said. "When my father died he didn't have many pictures so I based him off of an old picture of him when he was in his early forties."

"Wait, you mean to tell me that your father is dead?"

"Yeah, he died when I was just six years old."

Realization passed Connor's eyes.

"Wait, you're Cole?"

"Yeah."

"I remember you. We used to be neighbors," Connor said.

Cole glanced at him with confusion.

"My dad wanted me to get a job and your father would pay me to mow the lawn."

"Weird."

Connor recalled it was sometime in October when he had been riding his bike home when he had seen the car turned over face down on the side of the road.

Hank had been tossed out of the driver's seat and Cole was still in the car.

In a foolish act of bravery, Connor had opened the car and dragged Cole out on the road before calling the ambulance on the cellphone his father had given to him.

When the ambulance had arrived however Hank Anderson was already declared dead. His wife had taken custody over Cole and the two moved out to some other place.

After the day, Connor had never heard from Cole again.

"So I guess after that accident you lived with your mother?"

"Yeah, I joined Cyberlife after I heard Kamski retired. I wanted to see if I could take his research to the next level. He's always been talking about making androids more lifelike. I figured there must be other people who might look to an android as a replacement for a family member which is why I had intended on making more custom models."

"It's a shame. If I had known who you were sooner, I would have stopped by and said hello."

"I tried to write you but your brother said you had already joined the army. So what do you think? You think my android reminds you of my father?"

Connor glanced at Hank.

Appearance wise, the android looked nothing like Hank when Connor had met him. The android looked more younger than the man who he remembered had short grey hair neatly combed and not nearly as disheveled as the android's.

The man this android was trying to replicate also had different interests from the old man he had once looked up to.

Hank had always loved heavy metal and jazz. This android whilst it loved jazz, hated heavy metal.

Connor always had a familial relationship with Hank while they were alive. Hank always looked to him as the second son he never had. Often times he would just come by to hear Hank tell him stories about some cases he worked on at the station.

At the time he was still going to school, Hank was a lieutenant and very passionate about his job. Connor pushed through school just so he could be just as successful as the man.

He never knew if he succeeded but Connor liked to think he did.

"No, they act nothing alike."

Hank snorted.

"Are you always so bratty?"

"I notice your mother isn't around," Connor said.

"After I built him, she split. Probably couldn't bare looking at him after dad died."

"Oh. How did he get back in the police force? Last I checked KL-900s aren't programmed with the same capabilities of a RK-800."

"I merely replicated the program of the RK-800 and made some adjustments based off Kamski's research."

"So Hank also has the capabilities of a RK-800?"

"Yeah so feel free to use them any chance you get."

Hank snorted.

"Don't think that means you can use me like a machine any chance you get."

Connor smiled.

"I would never do such a thing."

He winked.

"Well I ought to head to bed. You get in some charge time too, alright dad?"

Hank sighed.

"Alright."

Hank walked by the power outlet where a lot of cords were hanging out. He took one of the cords with his left hand and removed a panel by the right side of his forehead with his right.

A white powersocket appeared after his skin ebbed away and Hank plugged the cord inside.

He sighed.

"That should get Cole off my chest."

Connor was about to get up and head to his room when Hank's voice stopped him.

"Ah, ah you stay here."

"Why?"

"I can't keep an eye on you if you remain in the guest room. We can't afford to have you bleed over night."

Connor sighed.

"Alright."

Cole returned with some blankets for Connor.

"You looked like you were cold and since my dad wants to keep an eye on you I thought I'd bring you more blankets."

With that he headed back in his room while Connor attempted to cover up.

Only after laying comfortably on the couch that night that it hit him.

'Wait, if Hank was a lieutenant at the same police force why was he readmitted at the police force fresh from the police academy?'


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14:

Markus was unsure how much time had passed. He just knew one minute he was stuck in some kind of nightmare where he was stuck in some bloody prison with both of his legs cut off and the next moment someone had come in from the left side of his vision.

"About time you showed up," a raspy voice said from his left.

"I see they took away your limbs."

"That's nothing compared to what they did to Markus."

Was he hallucinating? As the figure in front of him drew closer, Markus could make out soft features. A woman with red hair and soft brown eyes glanced down at him. She was wearing a green capris, a black shirt and a gunholster vest that looked like it contained a lot of guns.

The way her clothing hugged her body was something straight out of a wet dream. She was a curvy woman with a decent rack. Was she trying to seduce him?

He wouldn't mind even if she was the last thing he saw before he died.

The woman looked at him, her left brow raised in concern.

"Hey old timer, is he still alive?"

"He's been out of it for a while. I don't think he'll last another day if he remains here."

Another man walked up to him. Unlike the sultry nature of the woman, the man in front of him made his heart beat quickly. It wasn't infatuation like with the woman, Markus felt uncomfortable like something was piercing his heart as blue eyes looked at him with grave concern and a sullen smile.

A feeling of reality washed over him as the man gazed at him softly and compassionately.

"Markus?"

The voice sounded like it was being spoken underwater.

"Markus, you got to stay awake."

The man turned towards the woman.

"North, we got to get him out of here."

"On it. Y'know I think I might have found the android's legs."

"Good, with another pair of hands we might just get out of here one piece."

He glanced back down at Markus.

Markus noticed he once again avoided his eyes.

"Looks like they cut it at the joint. That's good at least."

"Oh my they even got you rigged with equipment?" North asked with amusement.

"Don't act so surprised," a raspy voice replied from the left of Markus.

"I knew they programmed them in domestic models but I didn't think Cyberlife would program it in old models. What are you going to do, hitch it up with an old lady or something?"

"Don't just stand there, hand me some pants."

Minutes passed and an old man was seen at the corner of his vision.

The man in front of him turned towards him.

"He's stable for the most part so we should be able to haul him out of here. We can't afford to jostle him to much though."

"That shouldn't be a problem."

"North, hand him one of your guns."

The woman from before handed Carl one of the guns she took from her vest.

"You do know how to use a gun right?" North asked.

"I was programmed with every function from the previous models. Of course I know how to use a gun," Carl snapped.

"North, help me out here," the man said.

Markus felt him grab his arm and sling it over his shoulder at around the same time the woman proceeded to do the same thing.

It was then he was beginning to hear sounds coming from the first floor.

The three reached a window on the left side and the man gestured to Carl to take his place.

"I got to get the rope."

He crawled out the window and minutes later returned with it. Markus saw him tie it to the bed post inside before throwing the rest out of the window.

He scooted the bed closer to the window.

"That should be enough slack to get us out of here."

The man replaced Carl at his side.

"Carl you go on ahead of us and wait and we'll hand you Markus."

Carl stepped outside the window grabbing the rope and carefully turning around. He tied some of the rope around his waist to keep him steady.

Carl reached out and Markus released his hold on the other man's shoulder to grab it.

The old man pulled him in around the waist keeping a hold on him effortlessly.

North and Simon joined him on the roof.

"North should climb down first in case we run into trouble," Simon supplied.

With that North climbed down the rope. The slack was a little off the ground but North jumped it.

"North, can you toss me the other end of the rope."

North tossed the rope on the ground towards the roof and Carl stopped it with his feet. Simon managed to grab it reeling it in until he was holding the part just where Carl was tied.

He went back inside and loosened the rope on the bedpost grabbing the ends of it before tossing it outside.

"I'm going to ease you two down carefully," Simon said.

Slowly Simon eased them down the roof. When they reached near the ground, North untied the slack around Carl's waist.

"We're good, Simon."

After closing the window, Simon inched to the end of the roof replacing where the rope had been tied. He joined up with the three minutes later.

It was short lived however as Markus saw a blurry couple walk towards them slowly becoming clearer as they ran closer to them.

They fired a gun.

'Sh-t," North muttered under her breath. "I knew this was not a good idea. We're like sitting ducks here."

Suddenly gunfire rang out from the right and the couple seemed to fumble with something before they charged forward.

Josh ran towards them from the right.

"You four looked like you were in a pickle. Lucky you gave me that gun."

"Don't make me regret it," North hissed.

Suddenly a guy ran up to Carl and Markus before Simon stepped in punching him across the face and kicking him in the chest.

The woman who was accompanying him lunged at North with a knife.

North grabbed her wrist pulling her in as she punched her in the stomach before doing a roundhouse kick with her left leg sending the woman tumbling to the right.

"Holy sh-t."

She got her gun from her vest pointing it at the woman.

"Name one reason why we shouldn't put a bullet in your heads?"

"Look we were only following the orders of our owner," the guy said.

"Please don't kill us. We don't want to die," the woman pleaded.

"What did he have you do?" Simon asked.

"We were trying to gather food for him. He barely gets by on food as it is. So we hunt for him."

"Hunt for humans you mean?" North inquired angrily.

"It's not like we could just buy food from the city. The moment they realize we're registered to a criminal they wouldn't sell us anything."

"So you hunt humans?"

"Yeah, under the orders of our owner."

"Your androids?" Simon asked.

The two nodded.

"You have a free will. You didn't have to listen to your owner," North said. "You chose to."

She gazed at them angrily cocking her gun.

"Please..."

"How many did you kill?" she asked.

"Alot. The first time, the person was in a lot of pain and we didn't know how to make it last but we got better in time."

"Lucky for us. I suppose you are the one who took care of my friend while he was out for the count?"

"We didn't want him dead. We don't kill anyone unless it's a last resort," the guy supplied.

Simon smiled pensively.

"Good. If we let you go will you leave us be?"

"Yeah, yeah."

"You promise?"

"Yes."

"North, let them go."

She hesitated, glaring at the woman.

"North..."

"Fine," she hissed.

With that the two hurried off and ran off.

"You're too soft, Simon," North said.

"You're too harsh, North."

"Do you really think they're going to stop at him?" she asked. "You know as well as I do that those deviants don't regret a thing. If it means protecting the one they love, they'll kill again."

"They are trying to survive like everyone here," Simon said. "You kill them what point would you be trying to prove? The good outlaws evil?"

"I want justice."

Simon sighed.

"In a way this is justice. I wouldn't want to live in a world where I'd have to resort to killing humans for food."

"What are you going to do about those two?" North asked glancing at Carl and Markus.

"We can't afford to take them to the hospital to care for them."

"Why?"

"Cyberlife already has them in their sights. That old man used to work with Kamski himself."

"Sh-t."

Just then Markus heard loud barks coming from the left.

"Tiny, calm down."

He heard Simon unbinding something just as Markus heard gunshots. The sound of fast footsteps came from behind him.

"What the-" Simon stammered. "Kara what are you doing here?"

A young blonde short haired woman alongside a brown skinned man with blond hair and a small blonde haired child ran up to them.

"We don't have time for that. Someone just shot at us. We gotta get out of here."

"Okay then follow me."

Everyone ran until they were out of the range of the house before they slowed down.

"So how do you know me?" Kara asked.

"I was a nurse working at the Detroit Hospital," Simon said.

"So you're Simon then?"

"Yeah, so why are you three out here?"

"Um..."

"You're also running from Cyberlife aren't you?" he asked.

"How did you-?" The blonde asked.

"You wouldn't be here otherwise. Is that your child?"

"No, her father gave her up to me to protect her."

Simon glanced at Kara with confusion.

"Why were they after the little girl?"

"It's a long story."

"What's her name?"

"Her name's Alice."

Alice reached down and pet the pitbull beside him.

Simon glanced at the tall brown skinned guy next to her.

"And who's this guy?"

Kara glanced at him. He was scowling, glaring at Simon.

"Oh that's Luther."

Simon caught his murderous gaze and smiled smugly.

"Pleased to meet you," he said.

Eventually the eight made it to Jericho. Simon took some keys from his pocket and opened the doors of the front entrance.

"I didn't know there was two entrances," Josh said.

"Well we don't really let anyone in through this entrance," Simon said.

The eight walked down a long narrow hall until they reached a winding door.

He knocked.

"It's me, Simon."

"Password."

"Hot horny sex."

"Codeword."

"There is no codeword."

"Who's with you?"

"Me, North and Tiny. I also brought company."

Just then the door opened revealing another blond haired man from inside. He was pointing a gun at them but he held it down when he realized it was Simon.

"Come quickly," Simon told everyone behind him. "Kara, you three can find a seat anywhere. Carl, you and Josh come with me."

Kara, Luther and Alice broke off finding somewhere to sit. Carl and Josh diligently followed Simon who motioned them towards an empty bed set on the floor.

"Set him down here," Simon said.

Carl carefully set him down on the bed.

A brown skinned woman walked over to where Simon was.

"Good you're here."

"What happened while I was gone?"

"Paul passed away and I barely managed to stabilize Kimberly."

"It's a shame about Paul but you did good while I was gone. "

She glanced Markus.

"What happened to him?" she asked with concern.

"Got his legs cut off," Simon said.

"Looks like his eye is infected too."

"You think we could do something about his legs?" Simon asked.

"We'll have to wait at least a week before we give him any prosthetics," she said.

Simon smiled.

"See I knew i could count on you, Lucy."

A day had passed before Markus awoke.

Simon was glancing at him with a relieved smile.

"Looks like you made it through the night."

"Simon?"

He tried to get up but something held him down.

"You shouldn't move. You're still recovering from your injuries."

Markus glanced up and saw that the building had a high ceiling. Wherever he was, this definitely wasn't Carl's house.

He turned and saw Carl at his right side.

"Where are we?"

"This is Jericho."

"Why are we here?"

"You were captured by a cannibal and his two pet androids."

"I thought that was a dream."

"It'd probably be better if you thought of it that way."

Markus hissed.

"My legs really hurt."

"That's to be expected with phantom limb pain. Just relax," Simon said.

"P-phantom limb pain? Why didn't you call the hospital?" Markus asked.

"You lost both of your legs. You think I'd do that when Cyberlife is after you?"

He groaned reaching for the covers. Simon's hand stopped him.

"Don't."

"Oh, I forgot. I just wanted to see."

"Look just take it easy alright. You're in good hands," Simon said.

Later that day, somebody moved in the bed next to his.

"So why are you here for?" a soft voice inquired from next to him.

"Lost both of my legs," Markus supplied.

"You poor thing."

Markus was struck with curiosity.

"Why are you here for?" he inquired in return.

"I've been in here for a while. When they sent me here, it was for burglary. I've never regretted stealing a wallet in my life. Was getting around for a couple of days until some guys assaulted me and beat me until I was black and blue. I think afterwards they had intended to burn me along with the building. One of the leaders, North I think rescued me."

"What's your name?"

"Solomon, yours?"

"Markus."

"Well it was nice to meet you, Markus."

"You too."

"So what did you do before coming here?"

"Not much. Just did a little artwork in my spare time."

"You were an artist?"

"Yeah, before we got into big trouble."

"How much trouble are we talking?"

"My brother shot me in the eye after getting into a bit of a beef with my dad."

"Sounds like your brother should be the one here."

"Anyone to put a long story short, some men wanted me and my father kidnapped and Simon rescued us."

"That's nice of him."

"What did you like to do before you were sent here?"

"Didn't really do much. I wanted to be a rap artist but I never really got the money to move to LA so I dealt with drugs to get by."

"I'll love to hear it sometime."

A woman chuckled.

"I see Sleeping Beauty loves to make small talk."

Markus turned to the right and saw a familiar woman hovering over him.

"Who are you?"

"I'm North."

"Like the north star."

"No, just North. No need to overcomplicate it. I don't overcomplicate your name do I?"

"You can't do much with a name like Markus."

"You'd be surprised."

"Did Simon ask you to check up on me?"

"No, that was on my own free will. Did you not want to talk with a sexy girl at your bedside? I heard men would give anything for that kind of fantasy."

"I'll admit the idea has crossed my mind but this fantasy is missing a key component."

"Oh?" North asked. "What might that be?"

"You're not wearing the complimentary nurse's outfit so it totally ruined the fantasy."

North glanced at him as though he were crazy and then she snickered before bursting out in laughter.

"I don't see what's so funny."

"You just don't seem the type to admit to something like that. I mean men still have those kind of fantasies. Don't you think it's kind of cliche?"

"You're sexy so why does it matter?"

North felt her cheeks heat up as she chuckled.

"I could say the same thing about you, Marco Polo."

"So what kind of establishment are you running here? Doesn't look like an anti-cyberlife settlement to me. It looks like you all are running some kind of hospital or outreach here."

"Simon thought it might be something productive to do with the empty building. When he isn't tending to the people here, he's gathering information from outside sources on Cyberlife."

"What kind of sources?"

"He had some people that work in journalism, some drug dealers from this part of the city, and now he knows you. We now have a direct connection with Cyberlife."

"I don't see how useful that can be. Carl isn't apart of Cyberlife anymore."

"The fact that he was though makes you useful all the same. Cyberlife has deemed you important to their interests making you a likely target. Through that connection we could gain more information on the very backbone of that corporation."

"Makes sense. Do you got a criminal backstory too?"

"Would you view me differently if I was?"

"Nah, if anything it makes you look hotter."

"Sometimes I wish I was and then I wouldn't have to be holding onto hope."

North looked troubled so Markus changed the subject.

"How long have you been here?"

"For three years approximately. I was living with a friend before I got here. What did you do before you got here?"

"I'm unemployed."

"You look the type."

"Can't really get far as an artist in this kind of world."

"I know the feeling. I always wanted to be actress myself."

"You look like you could be a successful actress."

North's left brow raised a fraction.

"Have you seen me act?"

Markus chuckled.

"No, I guess not but you do look gorgeous."

North smiled.


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: The intention with the fanfic up to this point was to create an au with tiny bits of character divergence and different character interactions from the original while mirroring the original plot of DBH and reworking some of the plots in creative ways. This is the part of the fic where we ignore that and I diverge a little from the story to add more content that isn't in DBH. In case it isn't clear up to this point, more OCs are going to be added though a big portion of them are gonna be NPCs. This is also the point of the fic where the choices really diverge from DBH. All choice divergences will be added to the end notes with the corresponding chapter that has the alternate ending if they change a part of the plot significantly to avoid spoilers.

Chapter 15:

Kara settled down alongside Luther and Alice. Besides the amounts of people in makeshift beds, others were gathering around barrels of fire.

Luther and Alice had insisted on settling down by one of the fires.

"Hey."

"Hey," Luther greeted in return. "Never thought Jericho was located on this side of the city."

"You're heard of this place?"

Luther glanced at her and smiled.

"Of course, you told me about it. Still you never told me this Simon guy was hot."

Kara shrugged.

"I was just as clueless as you were."

Luther frowned.

"So you admit he's hot then?"

"Hot is one word for it. Almost enough to make him steamy."

"Steamy?" Luther inquired.

Kara grinned.

"Yeah, y'know when you cook up a sweat because a guy is so hot it feels like the room is steamy."

"Yeah," he muttered.

'I wish she'd talk about me that way.'

He wasn't exactly hot though was he? Kara had never expressed interest in home before any of this. Luther had been fine with it at the time allowing Kara to adjust to the idea, hoping that with time she find look at him with a different light. Kara had never had made the first move however. Perhaps he was always fated to be in the friend's zone.

You know who's steamy?" Kara asked, glancing at Luther with excitement.

"Who?"

"You."

Luther coughed and sputtered.

"Y-you're teasing me."

Kara chuckled.

"I couldn't resist. You had such a frowny face and you looked like you needed to lighten up."

Luther snorted.

"I wasn't frowning."

He grinned.

"Not anymore. Your savior, Kara saved the day."

Alice chuckled.

Luther looked away with a smile plastered on his face.

"I suppose you did."

"So you mentioned quiting the police force before. That officer, Connor seemed to know you from before."

"How did you know about that anyway?"

"A woman that claimed to be your sister visited me earlier that day."

"Oh? She did, did she?"

"Yeah so spill the beans. What's the deal with Connor?"

"He was my partner before I quit the force."

"What kind of person was he?" Kara asked.

"A hardworker, uptight and too stubborn for his own good," Luther said. "Whenever we'd work on a case he'd always dive head first into danger even though we're actually supposed to call in for backup. He's almost got killed several times from not following police protocol."

"He sounds very dedicated to his work."

"Yeah, he'd always insist on working alone especially on the more difficult cases. Connor can be very cold when he tries to protect those he cares about. He always tried to push me away and always thought he might make me leave for good. I think he was counting on it."

"Did you leave because of him?" Alice asked softly.

"No, I didn't leave because of him. There had been a series of serial murders within the last three years concerning unidentified corpses in large garbage cans throughout Detroit," Luther explained. "We were told to ignore it by the police but Connor kept investigating into it. Eventually I started receiving anonymous threats that if we continued to investigate either me or my partner would die. I thought the whole thing was odd but then something really clinched the deal for me. I saw Reed set fire to the computers that held the case files and that's when I knew something shady was going on."

"So what'd you do then?"

"Nothing so I left the force and never told Connor a thing."

"Why?"

"I know Reed. Even if he suspected Connor knew the truth, he's confident enough to know the law can't touch him without any solid evidence."

"He wasn't upset?"

"Nah, Connor's never been one to hold grudges," Luther said.

'That explains why he didn't shoot Ralph. He's a better person than I would be.'

"I could tell," Kara said before getting up.

"Where are you going?"

"I going to talk with Simon and catch up on a couple of things."

Luther reached out to grab her arm.

She turned to him softly.

"There's no need to look so worried. I don't intend to do anything spicy. I just had some questions to ask him."

Luther sighed and released her.

Kara walked around looking for Simon finally finding him leaning against a set of boxes.

"Simon..."

He glanced at her with a pensive smile.

"What is it, Kara?"

"You said we knew each other right? Luther told me he found this note with my belongings," she said taking the folded envelope from her jean's pocket and handing it to Simon.

He smiled slyly.

"Luther huh? Is he your new boyfriend or something?"

She sighed.

"I wish."

"Never knew he was your type."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Every time you mentioned him it was more in a friendly kind of way. I just never got the impression you two were an item."

"I must have been blind if I friendzoned a hot guy like that."

"What makes you so sure that you weren't?" he asked, smiling smugly.

"Still even if I was interested, I don't even think he likes me."

Simon chuckled.

"Then I guess you were totally oblivious when he gave me the stink eye."

"He did what?"

"That guy is totally infatuated with you. He was jealous when we were talking with each other."

"I thought I just imagined it."

"Guess that means you still stand a chance."

Simon looked at the envelope.

"It looks this envelope is addressed to my brother's android."

"Did you know about this?"

"You did tell me something about it but you never said who it was addressed to. Can I open it?"

"Yeah."

Simon opened the envelope and took out the letter to read.

"I see."

"What is it?"

"The reason it was addressed to my brother's android. This is information on the entire operation behind Cyberlife and their whole entire underground collaboration with the president. My brother's android happens to work for the press. With this story, Cyberlife would have enough of their dirt exposed that they'd be shut down within a matter of months."

"So how do we get ahold of her?"

"You seem determined to give it to her despite the dangers. That letter could be the reason you are being pursued by Cyberlife."

"I don't think they even know. They are more interested in that little girl than with me."

"She's not your daughter?"

"No, her father told me to take her and hide her. I think they were afraid of the information she might have received from her mother."

"If that is the case, I might be able to get the information into her hands without anyone knowing. I'll see what I can in the meantime relax. You should be safe here for the time being until we can solve this once and for all."

Kara headed back overhearing Alice talking with Luther behind some objects they were sitting on.

"Luther, do you know when Kara is coming back?"

"She should be coming back soon."

"You seem to know alot about Kara, don't you?"

"We went to school together. I got to learn about her interests and hobbies, the kinds of foods she liked."

"What'd she like to do?"

"She used to love to draw outfits in her spare time, always wanted to make clothes. Then she started drawing kids clothes. I think it was because she knew at some point she wanted some kids."

"So why don't you two go to together?"

"Throughout school, people often thought we were. Kara really hated the rumors though, always tried to shoot them down. I'm sure she was opposed to the idea."

"Why?"

"She always thought romance got in the way of friendship. That romance really shouldn't matter if the friendship was truly strong enough. She made more friends after that and the idea never really popped up after that."

"So? Why don't you ask her out now?"

Luther chuckled.

"Alice, right now we have more than enough troubles on our plate. Now's not the time to be discussing about any relationship I might have or could have in the future."

"What was she like before?"

"You mean before now?"

Alice nodded.

"She's stubborn, loud, overly talkative, paranoid but considerably loyal at heart. She's also really compassionate but never really noticed that before now. The only person she has is me. Me, a tall, jealous idiot who is doting on her like a lovesick puppy."

"A steamy lovesick puppy," she said.

Now Kara was interested in seeing his face.

"Alice!" Luther reprimanded her.

"What? It's true," Alice said. "She said so herself."

"I said what now?" Kara asked.

Alice and Luther turned.

"Kara, when did you get here?" Luther asked.

"Just now. I finished talking with Simon. He says we should be safe here for the time being," she said.

Luther smiled with relief.

"That's good."

Later in the evening, a young brown-skinned man walked up to them wearing a hood and a green coat.

"You're Kara right?"

"Yeah," Kara said.

"Simon told me to inform you when Gary was serving dinner."

Kara glanced at Alice before gazing back at the man.

"Where do we go?"

"Most of us usually line up in front of the serving area where Gary hands us our plates. Are all three of you going to eat."

Kara glanced at Alice in question.

"It's okay. I'm not hungry," she said softly. " You two get in line I'll stay right here."

He lead Kara and Luther to a long line that hung from where there was a makeshift kitchen. Inside Kara could barely make out the man in the back wearing an apron and serving the food on paper plates.

"So what's your name?"

"Me?" the man asked. "I'm Adam."

"What did you do for a living?"

"Me? Me and my mother used to run a farm with my father before we got separated. After the whole deviancy operation, I decided to get another job. Turns out TE-600s are not only programmed to operate farms but are also good with handling animals so I got a job at the zoo," Adam said.

"You're an android?" Kara asked.

Adam chuckled.

"Yeah, you just figured it out?"

"If you're an android why are you lining up to eat with us?" Luther asked.

"Gary doesn't just serve humans food. He's also responsible for giving androids thirium if we need to restock our tank. I got in a bit of a scuffle before getting here so I need the blue blood."

"So I take it your job at the zoo didn't last long then since you're here."

"Unfortunately some coppers caught me with some red ice. Apparently there was some investigation going on about drug smuggling. They figured an android was responsible for the entire thing and the police had intended to send me to Cyberlife to dismantle me luckily my mom stopped it in the nick of time. She sent me here to escape the law."

"I see."

Once the three made it to the front of the line, Gary gave Adam a canteen of blue blood.

"Hey Gary."

"Hay is for horses, you can't keep running into trouble like this. We already have limited supplies for any humans that stay here but we have even less supply for androids so you can't afford to be taking hits like this."

"I know. I didn't drop by for the lecture."

"Maybe one day it'll sink in."

"Yeah, yeah."

Adam left leaving Kara and Luther next.

Gary glanced at them in surprise.

"Never seen you two before. Are you new here?"

"Yeah."

"So why're you here for?"

"Government conspiracy."

Gary rolled his eyes.

"What else is new? Something's clearly up with Cyberlife and all these androids running amok. Guess I'm not one to talk being an android myself. Are you androids too?"

"He's human and I'm human too last I checked," Kara said.

Gary sighed and turned serving Kara and Luther their meals on paper plates. It consisted of rice and some kind of stew.

"Where do you get the food?"

"Usually Simon stocks our supplies. We don't hunt humans like most of the people down here."

"Good to know, I guess."

With that the two made their way back to Alice who was joined by Simon.

"Hey Kara," Simon said.

"Did you need to talk to me about something?"

"Nothing per say," he said. "There's something I want to ask both of you."

Luther glanced at Kara in confusion.

"That can wait after you've finished eating though."

He glanced at Luther.

"I should take a look at your wound."

"I'm fine," Luther said shortly.

"Don't be so stubborn. There could be major damage to the muscle surrounding the wound."

He flinched when Simon tried to reach for him.

"Don't touch me."

Simon sighed and dropped his hands.

"Fine, if you insist."

While they were eating, Simon continued.

"What are you going to do once you get in contact with Caroline?" he asked.

"I guess give her the information and then return to Jericho. We can't exactly return to the city with Cyberlife running amok."

"You're bringing that little girl with you?"

"She can't stay here, can she? You said so yourself, this is a safe haven for everyone who lives her. There are alot of falsely accused people here but there are also alot of criminals. It's no safe place for a child to remain on their own.

"There is no guarantee I can protect you after you leave Jericho. Meeting Caroline will put you in danger especially if Cyberlife is desperate enough to track you there. Even if you return there is no guarantee it'll be completely safe especially if Jericho ever becomes compromised."

"We don't really have a choice though do we?"

Simon smiled.

"Theoretically you do. You can have Alice stay here. I can protect her."

"Out of the question," Luther said. "Your name and face is all over the news, you have a target written all over you. It's just as dangerous leaving her in your care."

Simon smirked smugly.

"Who says I'm going to care for her? I simply offered to protect her. You are correct that I'm in no position to care for her which is why I'm not."

"Who did you have in mind?" Kara asked.

"North can take care of her in the mean time."

"Who is North?"

"She was the woman who was traveling with us earlier."

"You trust her? How do you know she isn't a criminal?" Kara asked.

"I never claimed she wasn't. Does it really matter if I can trust her with this kind of job?"

"How well do you know her?"

"She's not a rapist and she's not a thief so you don't have to worry about North hurting her."

"But she is a killer?"

"That's not for me to say but on the off-chance she is, do you think I'd really let her take care of a child if she was going to kill her?" Simon asked.

"He does have a point," Luther said.

"I trust North enough to know she won't harm the child. She can be really loyal when you get to know her. You don't have to make up your mind right away. I'll agree with whatever you want to do but it is an option."

Kara had two options.

 **She could let Alice stay with North and Simon**

or

she could bring Alice with them.

"Fine, we'll do this your way but she's only listening to you. If she's uncomfortable with North I trust she can rely on you to help her."

Simon smiled softly.

"Of course, Kara."

Kara turned to Alice.

"Are you fine with that, Alice?" she asked.

She leaned closer to Kara and nodded.

"You think you can listen to Simon and be a good girl?"

Alice nodded.

"Then I'm counting on you."

After they finished, Kara inquired about the question that was on her mind.

"So where do we sleep tonight?" she asked.

"Most of the rooms are filled so everybody sleeps in here. We got plenty of sleeping bags though Alice can stay with the other kids in the room above us. There's only one kid that slept up there. Solomon usually stays up there but we've had to keep an eye on him after he was having trouble breathing. There should be a spare bed up there if you need to get some shuteye."

Alice nodded before climbing the ladder to the upper room leaving Luther and Kara alone with Simon.

"So what did you want to discuss?" Kara asked.

"I was talking with Josh earlier. I figure if you're intending on giving that letter to the press then you must have some motivation to put an end to Cyberlife for good."

"Still I don't intend on being more involved than I have to be."

"You're already involved a lot more than you realise. Cyberlife won't just stop when the situation boils over. They are always going to have you in your sights unless we put a stop to them once and for all. I figure since you've already dived face first into it, you might want to get involved with my plan."

"No way," Luther said.

"You didn't even hear what I had to say."

"I don't need to hear it to know it's dangerous. You wouldn't be asking us otherwise."

"It might not be as dangerous as you might think. If all the chess pieces are put into play."

After Simon left, Luther winced as he clutched his shoulder.

"You should have had Simon check the wound," Kara said.

"I'm fine. I'll be fine I just don't want him touching me."

End Notes:

Choice divergence: she could bring Alice with them.

Chapter: Not yet written. Will be added later.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

While they were many things that Cole could do programming memories was always faulty. Hank had been built with the intention of replacing the man who had brought him into the world.

Cole knew his father's likes, his dislikes, his hobbies, his interests or at least the biggest part of them.

His father respected people who abided by the law. He disliked people that did bad things but he also disliked people who looked down at him. Sometimes he really hated this quality about his father.

There was no guarantee that the android might be as patient as his father was when it came to such things. Programming things like this in an android wouldn't serve him well.

While he did program all of his father's memories in the machine, there was no way to guarantee it'd even be the same person he knew. Even if he got all of his hobbies and interests right. There was no replacing the love his father felt for him or his mother.

Everything that couldn't be replaced was filled with the A.I that came with the KL-900, the primary function to act as a therapist and a fortune teller.

Caring for someone did come naturally for the KL-900 but Cole could never know if it was the A.I or from the memories he programmed into the android.

From the first time he opened his eyes though, Hank could tell that something wasn't quite right about the situation.

"Hey Hank."

"Hank? Is that my name?" he asked.

"Yes, you were a machine designed to replace my father."

Hank scanned his features.

"You're Cole Anderson. Your father, Hank Anderson is recorded to have died October 10, 2035."

"That is correct."

"Then you made me to help you cope with your grief."

"I've had 16 years to grieve. I've waited all this time just to see you again. Even if it's an illusion can you at least pretend you're him?"

Cole embraced him.

Tears slipped from the corners of his eyes.

"That's all I ask. Please," he pleaded.

'I shouldn't. It's not my function. This isn't healthy.'

There had been no reason to refuse because he hadn't been programmed to care.

As days went by, Hank adjusted to the new family he was in slowly.

Most of the time, Hank spent his time caring for Cole fixing him meals, informing him about appointments and phone calls.

Hank put extra care in ensuring that the meal was healthy for an adult male his age.

Cole sat down at the table and glanced at the plate with a raised brow and a growing frown. After he ate Cole insisted on washing it himself and thanked his father before going along with his business.

This had gone on for two days before Hank began to suspect something was itching at his mind. The event had gone down a similar path as had the previous days.

He ran a psychological simulation of the event the next day before determining that Cole must have disliked the way he prepared breakfast.

Why? Was it because he couldn't cook a decent meal? Did Cole hate the kinds of foods Hank cooked? Or was it some other reason?

"What's the matter? If there is something wrong with the food please let me know and I'll try to fix it the problem for you."

"The food's fine. You're a good cook dad."

"You're not just saying that to make me happy are you?"

"Of course not."

Still Cole seemed to be bothered by the food nevertheless.

Hank even resorted to calling his ex-wife.

"I didn't expect you to call me. What is up?

"It's about Cole. I don't know what's wrong whenever I offer him food. He seems sad."

"What kind of food do you fix him?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Cole said he made you to replace my husband. You may not realize it but he's projecting that image on to you."

"So you're saying it's not the food."

"Not exactly. How do you make the food?"

"Like usual."

"How?"

"I look up healthy recipes-"

"Stop right there," she said. "That's the problem right there. Hank never fixes healthy food. He doesn't even fix food if he don't have to and when he does it's awful."

"Is that why he acted that way?"

"Likely."

Cole had programmed memories of years when he was in college making unconventional recipes to get through school.

Most of his time was used researching how to use food in conventional ways to make something edible. It just seemed highly unhealthy, and very disgusting to create something like that for a human being.

There was a stark contrast between the day he served that and the days he had been fixing healthy meals so much so that Hank took note of it.

He took note of the way, Cole softly smiled gazing at him in an emotion akin to comfort almost relief.

At some point he had been eager to put that expression on his face more often through any means necessary.

Hank scoured the house for some memories of the man he was before.

One particular day he spotted a photograph on the top shelf of a group of people in police uniforms.

"Is this supposed to be me?"

"Yeah, you used to be a lieutenant for the Detroit Police."

'I wonder what I used to do?'

He eventually managed to contact his ex-wife and found he used to work in homicide.

This fact seemed to wear on him until it was all he could think about.

'I look so much like him I could return and maybe Cole will smile again.'

Hank pitched the idea of going back to work at the precinct.

"Are you sure?" Cole asked.

"Well I ain't doing nothing here."

"You're very useful. You don't have to force yourself to do something like that just to make me happy."

"Alright."

Still after that conversation, Hank had got in the habit of brooding over that picture. Sometimes Cole thought he was spacing out.

"Are you alright? All you've been doing is gazing at that picture."

"All I could think about is what I used to do and what I could do if I returned. From what I've researched I think I'd enjoy solving cases and mysteries."

"Really? I never knew you were interested in that kind of thing."

"I didn't know either but it sounds fun."

"If you really want to join I'd be willing to program you with some new packages. Cyberlife has been working on an RK-800 prototype that will help police officers with their investigations."

"Sounds good. When would be a good time to install it?"

"We could do it tonight while you go in standby mode."

After the war, it wasn't difficult for an android to find a job if they had proper qualifications. It was only necessary to be equipped for standard protocol and to comprehend simple instruction.

Reading an article about rules in the police force was different than executing them. Hank had learned that at the academy and had been readmitted on the police force.

Meeting Jeffery again wasn't enlightening in the slightest. Even being programmed with memories of your past comrades was no good when you only had names and pictures to go by.

He was brash and quick to the point. Jeffery had called a young man inside.

Hank noted that the man was thin, his hair short and trimmed and he wore freshly ironed clothes.

First day back at work and Jeffery had already assigned him a new partner.

Connor was his name. There was also a Connor that was programmed in his memories. The memory of the name came with a note, best friends, trusted.

Hank didn't know what it was like to truly trust. He didn't even understand friendship but he was willing to try if it meant feeling useful again.

"I think you don't seem to understand something, captain. I have and always will work alone."

While nothing about the statement was capable of offending Hank, something about the statement perplexed him all the same.

The closest thing to describe it was curiosity but he had never felt that towards a stranger much less someone who carried the same name as the one from his memories.

This curiosity bleeded into the conversation that happened afterwards. Connor was surprisingly chatty despite him using words like cold to describe his work ethic. Hank noted he was also very dedicated often bordering on passionate for his work.

Eventually Hank and Connor had gone to the crime scene. Hank used his program to deduce and process the death of the android at his first crime scene. With the reconstruction program from the RK-800 package it was effortless.

After finding the assailant it was only a matter of scanning the red blood trail across the floor until he found the trail leading to the attic.

During the days in which the suspect had been recovering in the hospital, Hank had decided to drop by Richard's chicken feed and pick up something for Connor.

Cole had always responded positively to nostalgia. That's the only thing that seemed to provoke happiness.

Maybe if Connor enjoyed foods that Hank liked then maybe he would like the android made to replace him.

Only Connor seemed unconcerned with the food seeming to prefer to focus on his work rather than eat.

Slight irritation scratched at the corners of his programming, the KL-900s function to soothe.

Eventually Connor glanced at the food before giving him a lecture on the unhealthy content and proceeded to toss a joke in a deadpan manner.

He never claimed to like the food but he never gave off the impression that he was expecting something better either.

It was quite a dull reaction but also relieving in a way.

Still when asked about his hobbies, Hank still held the fear that maybe Connor wouldn't be as interested in anything he said if he admitted to having none.

By the time the suspect left the interrogation room though it was obvious that Connor could care less about such frivolties even giving him a chance to interrogate the suspect. Even if he didn't provoke a confession out of the suspect, Connor had openly expressed gratitude and appreciation for his work despite how imperfect it was.

With that gratitude Hank began to associate more positive feelings with Connor's presence. It came with the feeling of purpose and belonging further enhanced by the actions of Detective Reed.

Of course everything with Reed just went against the moral structure Hank's morality was based off of but dislike that was programmed by Cole was nothing compared to a moral code implemented by Hank the moment Reed had been bullying Connor.

He wanted nothing more than to punch Reed across his face merely because Connor had elicited these positive feelings within him. It was unfair that Reed tarnish someone who did nothing wrong.

Hank was scared by how protective these feelings seemed in nature. He was starting to care about someone other than his son.

Throughout the night, Hank had been keeping a close eye on Connor. After Connor had arrived at his doorstep with one arm held close to his chest and the other clutching a bullet wound on his side, Hank couldn't afford not to worry.

By the time morning came around, Hank found that he was completely charged to 100 percent unplugging the cord from his outlet.

Connor was beginning to stir.

Hank was certain he was hallucinating. Humans don't wake up before the sun comes up or at least none that he can remember.

He groaned before turning to glance at Hank looking disoriented.

"Anderson?"

"Connor."

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Hmm..."

"You look worried."

"I can't worry?"

"You can but I don't remember you knowing me well enough to."

"I would do the same with anyone."

'I wouldn't,' a voice in his head caught him out on his lie.

Connor smiled.

"That makes sense I suppose. What time is it anyway?"

Hank brought up the time on his processors.

"6:41 am. Do you want something to eat?"

"My injuries don't deem me bedridden. I can cook myself."

Connor slowly got up and winced.

Hank quickly helped him to his feet.

"Sh-t, I forgot about my arm."

"Are you sure you don't want me to cook?"

"I'm quite capable of cooking my own meals," Connor insisted.

Hank helped him to the kitchen.

Connor being so stubbornly adamant on cooking drove him crazy. It took twice as long for him to prepare all the necessary foods because he insisted on plowing through the fridge himself.

"So what else do you like to cook in your spare time."

"Don't really cook alot."

 _ **He wondered if he should bring up Hank's memory**_

or

not say anything at all.

"I believe you said that you used to make food in college but that's Hank's memory isn't it?"

"Something wrong with that?"

Twenty minutes of bumbling around the kitchen and Hank had enough.

"Enough Connor. You continue bumbling around the kitchen and nothing will get done."

 _ **Connor wondered if he should ask Hank to cook something he likes**_

or

cook Hank's ramen recipe.

"Why don't you ever cook something?"

Hank glanced at him with surprise.

"Huh?"

"Your mannerisms, your behaviors, nearly every single one of them emulate him."

"Is that a problem?"

"I can't speak for a robot, but trying so hard to be someone else can be stressful. You don't need to pretend with me."

"You two were good friends and what do you mean by nearly?"

Hank was sure he was emulating him perfectly.

"Hank Anderson is dead. You are your own person who just happens to have the same name as him."

"You can't possibly think that?"

"Why not? You already have qualities that distinguish you from him. You're more approachable, you hate metal music, you love to play sports, being an android you're probably very good at cooking."

"You think I'm more approachable?"

"It took me a long time before Hank would even warm up to me. I remember asking to work in his yard and he thought I would leave the job unfinished so he would always be outside making sure I got the work done to his satisfaction," he said before glancing at Hank. "But you, even when I was being difficult, you didn't let it bother you at all."

"Maybe I am bothered. You didn't even know who I was before any of this."

"Logically you can't know enough about a person to program an exact duplicate of them. Hank loves metal music, he'd rather watch sports than play them, the only sport he's actually played is soccer but he quit the moment Cole was born, and he rather stop to get fast food than cook a meal but I don't like you because you act like him."

"Then why do you like me?"

"It's because you gave me another chance. You didn't let me drag you down and you continued to support me even when I was a jerk. You just can't find people like that nowadays."

Hank sighed.

"You better appreciate my effort. I don't just do this for anyone," he said gruffly.

He passionately gathered up the ingredients for Connor's breakfast and set to work.

It smelled nice. The fresh smell of garlic and onions was a tantalizing smell combined with the ample amount of green leafy vegetables in the frying pan.

The tense stature of the android had also relaxed. Hank was completely absorbed in what he was doing.

"Collard greens are an interesting choice," Connor said.

"I made it for Cole before because he doesn't eat a whole lot. From what I gathered from most health articles dark green vegetables are a good source of fiber and iron."

"So why don't you fix like this more often? You seem to enjoy it alot more than what you made before?"

Hank chuckled but Connor noted it sounded forced.

"I can't."

They didn't speak any more on the matter. After Hank was finished he set it on the counter and Connor took the plate and headed to the table in the dining room.

He turned and glanced at Hank.

"Thanks for the meal."

Eagerly he dug into his food. It was very tasty but equally perplexing was the amount of effort put into it.

This was a meal that Hank had made for Cole. It was a very thoughtful meal. The vegetable choice and flavors were chosen carefully with Cole in mind.

So why had Hank made it for him?

"How is it?" Hank asked.

"It's pretty good."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I eat food like this everyday."

Hank frowned.

"I put some effort into it and this is the kind of thanks I get?"

"Why did you make this? You could have fixed anything else."

Hank glared at him.

"Maybe I'll do that next time. I bet you're just dying to try my ramen recipe again."

"That's not what I mean," Connor said. "You said this was something you made for Cole. I just want to know why you fixed it for me."

"You told me to fix something for you. That was the first thing that popped up in my mind. You're always passionately talking about food like you're a health nut, avoiding caffeinated drinks, food with a lot of cholesterol. I thought it was something you might enjoy but clearly I was wrong."

"I did enjoy it."

"Though it's not anything different than what you make yourself."

"I have made meals like this but never with those kinds of things in mind. You put a surprising amount of thought in the things you cook. It's very thoughtful of you to do this even for someone who might has well be a complete stranger to you."

For a brief second, Hank glanced at him with an expression akin to awe before turning away. Connor noted the light red on his cheek bones.

'Is he embarrassed?'

Cole chose that moment to step in the kitchen.

He glanced at Connor's plate before looking back at Hank in confusion.

"That looks tasty. Did dad make it for you?"

Connor smiled.

He could be honest.

or

 _ **He could lie.**_

It was not good for Hank to continue to maintain this illusion but at the same time he didn't want Hank to feel ashamed of something he did himself.

"No, I made it myself."

Hank gave him a grateful smile.

"Is there any leftovers?"

"Yeah, it's on the stove," Hank said.

After he ate Cole headed out.

"Why did you lie to him back there?" he asked.

"You wanted me to tell him the truth?"

"N-no, of course not."

"If you're anything like Hank, he wouldn't want to intentionally hurt Cole either."

"I thought you said I was nothing like him."

"Even if you're not him, Cole is still someone special to you isn't he? You don't want to see him hurt. You're afraid he won't like you if you don't maintain this facade so you feel like you have to so you don't hurt him."

"That still doesn't answer my question."

"It's pretty self explanatory though isn't it. If I told him the truth, it'd hurt him. Even if he likes you, it wouldn't be the same. Acknowledging that fact in turn would hurt you, wouldn't it?"

Hank felt his thirium pump racing. Connor's soft gaze ensnared his eyes. He was rendered speechless. If he was human, he was sure he'd be breathless.

"You were worried about how I felt?" he stammered.

"Of course, why wouldn't I be? We're partners right?"

Hank looked away.

Something about his gaze made him feel more vulnerable.

He fished his LED from his clothes and placed it on his head.

"I ought to call and tell Jeffery that you'll be taking the next couple of days off for your injury."

"I'm perfectly fine," Connor spat.

He saw the LED had turned from it's blue color to a more yellow color.

"Anderson!"

Hank ignored him.

Connor firmly grabbed his shoulder.

"You did it anyway, didn't you?"

Hank smiled smugly.

"You're d-mn right I did."

Connor rolled his eyes throwing his hand in the air.

"Unbelievable."

"Don't be looking for trouble alright? You think you'll be good by yourself?" Hank asked.

"I'll be fine, Anderson."

Hank snorted.

"Liar."

Connor smiled.

"Maybe you should have thought about that before phoning Fowler."

"Do you have a death wish you know as well as I do that you're in no position to be working in that condition."

"I'm in every position to do so especially since you're the one who foolishly left me under Reed's care. I'm not going to let you or Reed keep me from doing my job."

Hank stammered. The forgotten LED on the corner of his head turning into a red color.

"Wait, Reed's the one who shot you?"

'Sh-t. I said that out loud didn't I?'

"Yes. You shouldn't sound so surprised."

"Chris told me he would be the one driving you back to the station," Hank said. "If I had known he'd leave you with Reed I would never have left."

"Why did you think it was a good idea to leave me alone to begin with?"

"Chris said they had everything under control. I made a mistake, okay. I'm sorry."

Connor glanced at him smugly.

"You're really enjoying this aren't you?"

"You have no idea."

"Look I won't do it again alright."

Connor's smug smirk faded.

"Wait, you said Chris told you he'd be driving me back to the station?"

Hank noted the young's man's face was pale, with wide eyes. He looked haunted.

"Yeah, he did. Why?"

"Chris dislikes Reed. He'd never do something like that."

"Are you sure?"

Connor nodded.

"That is a little odd. I'll see what I can find out at the station but you need to go to the hospital. You can't keep postponing it."

"Alright I'll go but only if you come too."

With that Hank set off leaving Connor alone at the house. After Hank had left, that's when his cellphone began to ring.

Quickly Connor answered it.

"Yes?"

"Is that you, Connor?"

"Yes it's me. Who are you?"

"Simon. Meet me at the usual place at noon."

"Alright."

End Notes:

I've outlined a total of 26 endings of Connor's storyline. Most of which are influenced by choices earlier on. So I'll be keeping a tally of how these choices effect other endings.

The first alternate choice is ultimately another tick mark for the ending I'm already pursuing in this fic. The other two alternate choices though are 2 tick marks that lead to thirteen other endings that are in group 1. Depending on other choices these endings will get more specific.


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: This chapter is filled with headcanons galore.

Chapter 17.

There were many advantages to being an android, besides the lack of age impacting his physical appearance there was no need for food, drink or sleep.

Still Carl kind of missed those things when he was still a human. He was one of the only androids with most of his memories intact.

Only thing this machine body lacked was the ability to process emotions. He knew he felt emotions, he knew why. Still sometimes it felt like Carl was feeling them because that was how he had felt when he was a human when happiness and sadness was something he actually felt.

To be honest, happiness and sadness always felt hollow even though he was certain he should be feeling them. Carl had a feeling that rejecting that part of himself though would hurt everyone around him.

There was a part of himself that was contemplating what would happen if he had killed the people he was supposed to care about. What would happen if he killed Markus, if he killed Leo or if he killed Connor.

It would be easy to do and it felt almost like squishing a bug under his shoes because there was nothing preventing him from doing so other than his memories.

The idea that one day he might be able to form genuine attachments to other human beings was one of two reasons why he hadn't done so. He'd be betraying what he stood for if he killed just because he had no incentive not to, and while he could bare the idea of being a prisoner what kind of purpose would it serve.

Even if his interactions were somewhat hollow, he needed something to make him feel important. He needed a purpose in life.

So even if he didn't love his kids the same way that they did him, Carl had always been willing to try in spite of himself.

That's what Carl told himself as he observed Markus throughout the night. From his memories and reflecting on his past experiences, he was certain through their interaction Markus had developed an attachment to North.

Still he could only hope Markus would be happy.

The next morning, Carl saw Simon heading out with Josh.

Curious about this exchange, Carl followed them outside.

He spotted Josh who had joined up with him as they waited outside of the fence bordering the city.

Sometime later, he spotted a tall figure walking towards them. Carl scanned them. The gait and stature looking very familiar.

What was Connor doing here?

"Hey. you wanted to see me?"

"Yeah."

"How's Markus been doing?"

"Recovering. We're afraid to move him to the hospital in his condition," Simon said. "You also look worse for wear. How long were you intending to hide that bullet wound?"

'Connor was shot?'

Even when he forced most of his emotions, he still felt honestly annoyed when Connor did these kinds of things.

"Is it really that important?"

"Yes, actually. I can't send you out looking like that. It's too risky."

"I've worked with far worse."

Carl snorted.

"How do you know? I bet you didn't even stop by the hospital," he said.

Simon's eyes widened.

"What are you doing out here?"

"I was checking to see what you were up to," Carl said. "Have to know what my sons are getting wrapped up in."

Connor snorted.

"Satisfied?"

"No, I'm not but nothing I say is going to prevent you from doing whatever you like will it?" Carl asked.

"You didn't even get it checked out?" Simon asked.

"It's not your concern," Connor said shortly.

"You shouldn't be out and about with that kind of injury. You don't even know the extent of the damage."

"Are you talking about the bullet? The hospital could remove it anytime."

"That isn't the problem," Simon said. "The bullet's fine. It's the damage that I'm concerned about."

Connor sighed.

"I'll be fine," he said with a stone face.

"Good, I'll need you to go in with Josh and investigate a drug dealer around these parts."

"Drug dealer? Why?"

"I believed for a time that there might have been a connection with Cyberlife's stock of thirium and the conception of red ice. According to the news, no one can report where Cyberlife gets it's thirium for it's androids. President Warren had stated that all the thirium reserves here have been drained dry," Simon said. " Recently though I've had reason to believe that there was never any thirium reserves."

"What makes you say that?"

"Don't you find it strange that there is more mention of thirium preserves now then there was in the early 2000s. According to Josh, the first thirium reserve was found in 2020 but prior to that there was no information about it. So where do they get the thirium? The only physical ways to obtain it is through androids and through red ice," Simon said. "There must be a connection. If any connection can be made between red ice and the way Cyberlife acquires thirium we might be on to something controversial that could take down Cyberlife..."

'Because there is something definitely shady with the president and Cyberlife.'

"Even if there was a connection, there's no way of knowing Cyberlife acquire thirium through red ice."

"Unless thirium is an element that is chemically based," Josh supplied. "Humans were noted to create man-made elements from the periodic table of elements."

"So Cyberlife dabbles in narcotics. They haven't done any crime," Connor said.

"Unless we can prove that there was never any thirium reserves to begin with and they get their thirium through the same process in which red ice is made. I figure you two might be able to figure out the exact chemical components of red ice. There is a famous red ice dealer around these parts that goes by the name of Dennis Ward."

"I've heard of him," Connor said. "He can get very violent. With that in mind why is the PJ-500 coming along? Carl has all the necessary capabilities of doing this on his own. PJ-500s have limited self-defense capabilities."

"That is the very reason he can't do it," Simon said. "The only people who are qualified to tend to Markus is me and Lucy. There are also other people who are counting on us. Carl has said he was programmed with every medical protocol. We need all the hands we can get."

"So Carl can't come along. What's the purpose in sending an android when I can just do the job myself," Connor said.

"Last I checked you're not an android programmed with facial recognition are you?"

"No but what does that have to do with anything."

"You're on the lookout for Cyberlife employees. If you don't know who they are you can't really tail them can you?" Simon said. "If we can find out whether or not there is any connection between red ice and Cyberlife-"

"So this is just a hunch? You don't even know if there is a connection."

Simon shrugged.

"I'm sending Josh as a precautionary measure nothing more."

"I have a scanner for facial recognition that is connected to the internet databanks," Josh said. "So spotting them should be a cinch."

"You are there in case things start to get heated," Simon said. "That's why I'd feel awful sending you out like this-"

"It's fine," Connor cut off. "What time do we set out?"

"Later in the evening," Simon supplied.

"Alright. I'll remain with you then for the time being."

The four headed back to Jericho.

Markus awoke to see Simon hovering over him glancing at him in concern.

"Are you feeling any pain?"

He ignored Simon's loaded question.

"I see you finally paid me a visit."

"I've been busy."

"Then why did you rescue me?" Markus asked. "You clearly are more interested in the connection Carl has to Cyberlife than me."

"What gives you that idea?"

"North seemed to believe that you brought us here to obtain information on Cyberlife from Carl."

Simon frowned his arms folded.

"Is that what you really think?"

"What was I supposed to think? There's no reason you could have possibly saved me. I'm useless dead weight and you know it," he said.

Simon chuckled.

"Well you're not wrong."

Markus snorted avoiding his eyes.

"Then why bother with me at all?"

"Because you're hot and sexy."

Markus sighed.

Carl smacked Simon on the back of his head.

"What the-? Where did you come from?"

"I'm never far behind so don't get any funny ideas, stud muffin," Carl said.

Simon winced as he stroked his head.

"You know you brought it on yourself," Markus said. "You shouldn't rescue someone just to give yourself an excuse to be a pervert."

He snorted.

"I'm not a pervert. I just have an appreciation for the male anatomy."

"Just call it what it is. It's pity nothing more nothing less."

Simon frowned and opened his mouth about to say something when laughter came from Markus' left side.

"Aw, you two are so cute. Y'know Markus I think Simon likes you," Solomon said.

"Oh is that what you see? I think he's a jerk who likes to look down at people who look inferior to him."

Simon made a kissy face inching closer to Markus' cheek.

Markus pushed him away with his right hand.

"See you love me too," Simon said.

Solomon chuckled.

"Say Solomon, has Lucy checked your vitals yet?" he asked.

"She said I've mostly stabilized."

Simon smiled.

"That's good. How's the rap been going?" he asked.

"I thought of a couple of verses yesterday after talking to Markus," Solomon said.

"North and I helped him come up with some words," Markus supplied.

"Wanna hear it?" Solomon asked.

Simon smiled.

"Sure. Knock yourself out."

 _I'm beginning to realize though life is short_

 _I have good memories of the time I spent here_

 _You never realize what you have until it's gone_

 _That's why I'll embrace as long as I have until it's all done._

"You made a lot of progress."

Solomon smiled.

"Markus helped me with the fourth line and North added the third line."

"It's beautiful," Simon said.

"Thanks."

Simon turned to glance at Markus.

"You're smiling."

Markus felt the corners of his lips upturned in a smile. He frowned.

"No, I'm not."

"You were."

Simon smiled smugly.

"Wipe that smug smirk off your face."

"You have a cute smile. You should do it more often."

"What?"

"Smile."

"I'm calling Carl."

"Fine, fine. I'll stop teasing you. Let me know if you need anything alright."

Later that evening North dropped by with a little girl at her side.

Markus smiled.

"Hey good looking."

"Don't even get me started," she said with a sour look on her face.

"So who's the kid?"

"Her?" North asked glancing at the girl next to her.

"Yeah."

The girl cuddled closer to North who was frowning in obvious discomfort.

"Her name's Alice. Simon asked me to babysit her while her parents are gone."

"You look out of your element," Markus said.

"That's the understatement of the year. I've never been good with kids."

"Really, I couldn't tell," he said with a smile.

North felt her face heat up.

"You're teasing me," she said hotly.

Markus chuckled before glancing at Alice.

"Hey Alice. My name is Markus. Has this lady been mean to you?"

North snorted.

Alice blushed.

"N-no, North is a very nice lady."

North sighed.

"I was trying to get her to play with some of Lucy's dolls but she looked bored."

"You don't seem like that's your kind of spiel," Markus said.

"They looked so pretty," Alice said. "I didn't want to damage their clothes."

Markus looked at North in question.

She snorted.

"Lucy has a doll collection at her home. She loves to crochet outfits for the dolls," North supplied.

"There was this pretty red dress with the green stripe in the middle. She sewed lace on the corners," she said.

"She wanted to play princess but she quit before we got too far."

Alice frowned at North.

"North wanted one of the princesses to rescue the other princess from the evil dragon but I didn't want to."

Markus glanced at North with an amused smile.

"Why?"

"I was afraid that her clothes would be damaged."

North snorted.

"You can't just have a princess captured and not have a prince to sweep her away. If a prince is not going to rescue her, who else can rescue her other than another princess."

"The dragon wasn't evil in the first place. They were best friends."

"That's not a very interesting story. I tried to convince her to have the princess fight off the dragon but apparently princesses don't use swords. Who knew?"

"Girl don't use swords though. Girls play dress up and wear makeup. I always seen it on tv."

North whistled under her breath.

"Not all girls. I was never a fashion nut and I never wear makeup."

"Not once?"

"I tried it once and I never wore it again."

"For someone not fashion conscious you sure are looking beautiful."

"You wouldn't say that if you caught me in my t-shirt and sweat pants."

"So why don't you wear them then?" Markus asked smugly.

North rolled her eyes.

"They're in the wash. Simon insisted I clean them."

"You'd wear them even after they've been covered in sweat?"

"H-ll yeah, it's not like I'm trying to impress anybody."

Alice made a disgusted face.

"Ew."

"Hey North."

North turned towards Solomon who was looking very cheekily at them.

"Solomon, you still being treated?"

"Yeah, Lucy told me i should be out in a couple days."

North smiled.

"That's good."

"So who's the girl?"

Alice shyly hid behind North's legs.

"Her name is Alice."

"That's a nice name," Solomon said. "What's a young thing like her doing down here anyway? This is no place for a girl her age."

"Simon says she's in some kind of trouble and he assigned me to babysit."

"Y'know I think she likes you."

North felt her cheeks heat up.

"Don't tease me."

"I see Simon picked your clothes as usual."

"Of course he's the fashion guru not me."

Markus chuckled.

"So what type of girl are you then?"

North grinned.

"I'm more of a sporty type but I've been really getting into kickboxing lately."

"Why don't you show me your moves?" Markus asked.

"I'm sorry you don't know me that well," North said coyly.

"If you won't do it for me, would you do it for Alice?"

North turned and Alice was giving her the most puppy dog expression.

"Well, sh-t."

North showed her some things she had learned as Markus sat back and watched the show.

"If you're ever in a pickle, that move had always gotten me out of trouble," she told Alice.

Markus watched them with something similar to admiration in his eyes.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Kara and Luther stood outside a rundown building. The building wasn't out of place amongst the rundown wreckage that was standard run of the mill for this part of the city.

Some moss had grown outside and some of the building was caving in.

"Is this the place?" Luther asked with a frown.

"Only one way to find out. Simon said he tracked Ward to this location."

"What's with our clothes though?" he asked.

Kara was dressed in racy clothing consisting of a black spaghetti strap top with a short black skirt that barely reached her mid-thigh. She wore it over a girdle with girdle straps hanging from beneath latching to some knee-high fish net stockings. A small studded earrings which doubled as ear buds were placed on the ends of her ears.

Luther had insisted she wear his long green coat for some modesty.

Kara sniffed it. It smelled musty and faintly sweaty but there was something refreshing about the smell. The odour was homely and comforting. It oddly suited him.

"Don't know. Simon said it'd help us blend in," she said.

While Kara's clothes were more racy, Luther felt overdressed. He wore a black beanie on his head, a blue coat over a grey turtleneck and faded brown jeans with light brown shoes.

"You still got that pocket knife?"

"Yeah if I need it."

"Good."

Luther knocked on the door. A shorter brown skinned man opened the door. He wore zipped up green sweater jacket and sweatpants. A thick brown pair of glasses hung from his nose.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"Can we talk?" Luther asked.

He smiled.

"You here for business?"

"You could say that."

"Come in."

The two stepped inside. Inside the building, it was surprisingly neat. A single couch stood in the middle of the room. Posters hung off the backwall with abstract images.

Long beads alongside magenta curtains separated the rooms.

The floor was surprisingly tidy. No evidence that they were dealing with a drug dealer at all.

"Amelia!" Dennis called out.

A woman with a red haired bob came in wearing similar garb to Kara's. A device shaped like a peanut was attached to the upper left corner of her forehead. The lights on the device flickered between blue and yellow.

'An android?' she thought.

Kara glanced at Luther's reaction.

He seemed equally perplexed by the woman who was glancing at Dennis.

"Yes, Master Ward?"

"Can you take this woman to the back room?"

"Certainly. Come along, dear."

Amelia gestured to Kara to come with her.

"So what's your real business being here, Sutherson?" Dennis hissed. "You going to arrest me. None of you can touch me."

Luther snorted.

"You really think we'd come here just for you? The DPD have strict orders not to touch this district and unlike you I know when to quit."

Dennis chuckled.

"I saw your partner earlier. Let's just say I don't love liars."

"Even though you are one yourself."

"I believe your partner also had a bullet wound on his left shoulder too. He made the funniest expression when I jostled it. You don't want it to get hectic in here do you? It might not end well for you or your woman."

"I'm not picking a fight. You would know that if you bothered to use those scanners of yours, Ward."

Dennis scanned him and his eyes widened.

"You're a felon too. No, it's more than that. You're wanted by the law. This is great."

He chuckled.

"How does it feel to be on the wrong side of the law. Your partner would have a field day. Maybe I should tell him. Maybe then he'll stop this inane idea of his."

"Why bother with the act, Connor can't touch you here and you know it. His business isn't my own. I have my own reason for coming down here."

"You don't expect me to believe you came here to buy red ice do you?"

"That's exactly why I'm here for."

"Your partner said the same thing. You expect me to believe that you and your partner have suddenly become drug addicts."

"I believe there are rumors that they are health benefits to red ice unless you are insinuating that they are liars and I can't really taste the rainbow as one of them put it."

Dennis sighed.

While this was going on Amelia walked with Kara until they reached a room. It had lockers near the backwall and a set of three mirrors on the right side much like a room set aside for makeup artists.

"Are you a call girl too?" Amelia asked.

"Call girl?" Kara asked, feeling uneasy.

"Yeah, y'know one of those women that men take to their bed every night?"

She wondered if she should lie. This girl could be an android.

"That device on your head. You're an android right?" Kara asked.

She chuckled.

"No."

"So that device is detachable?"

"Of course."

Amelia placed her fingers around the device but winced in pain.

"Are you alright?" Kara asked. "You don't have to prove anything to me if it hurts that much."

"I never thought to remove it," she said. "Everything had been so painful before I arrived here. Once Master Ward took me in I thought it could be a fresh start. He had treated me so kindly since my arrival."

"You said you never thought to remove it. Was that device always attached to your forehead like that?"

"At my old job I used to work as a prostitute with some other lady but we got separated. Some guy killed her and I was brought to the hospital. Everything is fuzzy after that. I couldn't tell when I was awake or asleep until I woke up. Next thing I knew I was accused of murdering her so I came here. It's not any better but at least I'm happy. What about you?"

"Don't really know much. Lost my memory before I came here," Kara said.

No point about being dishonest when there was no memories to work with.

"You two seem quite attached compared to most of the people that come down here. You're lucky that your man doesn't mistreat you like most of the men do here."

"What other kinds of guys come down here?"

"Mostly people who want to get their hands on some red ice but he usually does business in one of the back rooms."

"Will Ward take him to that room?"

"Yeah, he'll probably want me to prepare refreshments for your man and the other two guests."

"The other two guests?"

Amelia lead Kara out of the room to an area that was downstairs to a basement.

Inside the room were several stalls. They passed a stall where two men were seated.

One of them who Kara recognized as Connor, who had rescued them at Ralph's home, wore a black beanie and a camouflage jacket over a grey turtleneck sweater. He also wore blue jeans and light brown shoes.

The other one was another man who had accompanied them on the way to Jericho.

What was his name again?

He wore the same clothing from that time. Catching Kara glancing at them he met Kara's eyes and smiled.

"Hey Kara."

Kara jolted in surprise.

"Don't react. I am speaking to you through my mind. Me and Connor were sent by Simon to assist you."

Two other women were dressed in similar clothing gallivanting around the room.

"Hey Stacy, Shirley."

"Did Master Ward send you down here?"

"No, just came by to say hello," Amelia said.

"So who's the woman with you?"

"Her name's Kara."

"Y'know you two shouldn't be down here without the master's permission or he'll be mad at you."

"We were only visiting briefly. I'm taking her back to the room now," she said. "Are you going to tell the master?"

"No, we'll keep a secret."

"Thanks Stacy, Shirley."

While they were heading back Kara asked the question that was on her mind.

"So what do they do down there?"

"Master Ward thinks it's important to provide entertainment for the guests. So they dress up and provide a show."

"Sometimes I'm sent down there to cook or entertain as well. Ward appears to favor my service the best."

"AMELIA!" Ward's voice echoed from behind them.

"Looks like Master Ward is expecting me. You got to return to the other room."

Kara made her way back to the room she was in before.

So Simon had sent Josh and Connor to infiltrate this place too.

Amelia stepped in Ward's room as he was just finishing talking to Kara's man.

"I'm sorry I will have to reserve my business until I am finished with my other appointment."

"Who're you meeting up with before me?"

"Mr Dempsey. We do our business in a separate room though so you should be fine for the time being."

"What time will you two be meeting up?"

"According to my watch it should be a quarter past 10."

"If you're booked for another appointment I could wait."

"It's a long line. Amelia will send you downstairs. My girls should be able to provide entertainment in the mean time."

"Come along," she said gesturing for him to follow her.

Luther quietly followed her until they reached downstairs.

He was taken aback by the sight of Connor and Josh.

'Simon must have sent them as well.'

"Oh?" Amelia asked. "Do you three know each other?"

"We're old friends," Luther supplied.

"Oh then I suppose you'll want to take a seat with those gentlemen?"

"Sure."

Josh rolled his eyes.

Luther gestured to Josh to move.

He got up to make room for Luther who joined the seat next to him.

Connor was glancing stonely at him.

"Are you three thirsty? You look like you three can use some drinks."

"Um, yeah," Luther said.

Amelia smiled.

"Great then I'll go and get those for you."

Once she was gone, Luther was about to speak when Josh stopped him.

Josh took out a pocket notebook and a pencil in his inner jacket pocket. He set it on the table and wrote something.

"We are being recorded."

He put the pen down so Luther could pick it up.

Luther wrote a message of his own, a sum of what Ward had just told him.

Connor snorted after Josh had shown him the message before scrawling down a message of his own.

'You know you just made this harder by letting that android know about our relationship."

"Ward already knows we're both here. It's already risky us just being here. This is Dennis Ward we're talking about remember?"

"I haven't forgotten."

Connor glanced at his watch.

"Their appointment should be going on any second."

He showed the message to Josh.

Josh scanned the building.

"Three people are on the third floor."

"Three? One of them must be Dempsey."

Luther heard steps coming from behind them and turned.

Amelia had returned with their drinks.

"So what do we do now?"

"We can't be certain that Dempsey has any connection with Cyberlife." Josh wrote.

"I suppose you can't scan him from here?" Luther replied.

"No I can't. There is a Dempsey that works at Cyberlife but without facial confirmation it could be anyone."

"Have you already contacted Kara?"

"Yeah."

"Then this will work."

Whilst Kara was waiting in the other room, a voice echoed in her ears.

"Kara? Are you there?" Josh asked.

"Yes."

"I need you to be on the lookout for two guys on the third floor."

"I can't leave the room."

"You should be fine,"

"What do I do once I reach that floor?"

"Need you to stall them once they leave the room."

"How do you suggest that I do that?"

Luther cut in.

"Say you want to introduce them to me."

"I need more than that. What reason could you possibly want to see him?"

"Then find something. Eavesdrop on them."

Kara sighed.

"I know you'll find something. I believe in you," Luther said.

She whistled under her breath.

"Lovely."

"Good luck," Josh said. "I'll let you know when they're heading out but you should be fine for the time being."

Kara snuck outside her room and crept up the stairs to the third floor with her ears peeled for Josh's instructions.

A hall with two doors were on the floor. Both were shut.

"I'm on the third floor," Kara said.

"They should be on the first door to your right."

Kara crouched near the door to her right and carefully moved her ear close.

"You're late," Ward said. "Would it pay for you to get here on time."

"I'm sorry I was held up. Mariah had me working after hours."

"Next time tell her if she wants the shipment on time to send you here earlier or she won't receive anything from me."

"Maybe you should tell her yourself. Oh I forgot you still have the coppers on your back."

"The coppers will be after her if she don't watch her own back and you'll be out of a job," Ward said. "What does she pay you to do clerical work? Thirium?"

"I scratch her back and she scratches mine. After I lost my job as a firefighter, I had to earn a living somehow."

Kara stepped aside.

"Hey Josh, got any information about a Dempsey that worked for the Detroit Fire Department?"

"What did she find out?" Luther asked.

Josh did some scanning through job records. The Dempsey that had worked with Cyberlife also worked with the Detroit fire department before getting laid off due to an injury to his robotic endoskeleton. Even with repairs, his function hadn't been quite the same according to reports.

"Dempsey was a firefighter. Records show his last act of kindness was when he had rescued a family in a local neighborhood in Detroit."

Josh looked up scanning. Ward and Dempsey were about to leave accompanied by the third person.

"Sh-t Kara, you got to go. Ward is about to leave," Josh said.

Quickly Kara headed back downstairs. Judging from the sound of the floorboards as her feet walked across the first floor, she figured that going fast would create a loud noise.

That being said Kara wondered if she should

run

or

 **if she should walk briskly but cautiously.**

Quickly she walked cautiously downstairs.

From the sounds of feet stomping behind her there was no time to head back to the room she was in.

Luther, Josh and Connor already prepared to meet up with Dempsey the moment they had left the room.

Kara turned to see if Ward and Dempsey had her in their sights and didn't see until she had run smack into Luther's chest.

Luther clutched her instinctively.

Ward and Dempsey caught sight of them. The third man that accompanied them was looked asian in appearance.

"Is there a reason why you four are huddled together in the middle of the stairway?" Ward asked.

"My man informed me that Mr Dempsey was the person in charge of saving my friend from a fire that nearly killed her," Kara lied through her teeth.

Despite the lie, Luther's heart raced at the fact that Kara had referred to him as her man.

A large built man with disheveled brown hair, brown eyes, bushy eyebrows and a five o'clock shadow replied.

"I don't work as a firefighter anymore. Sorry."

"Where do you work? My friend would like to personally think you for all that you did."

The man looked away.

"I can't say. Sorry toots."

"It's because you work for Cyberlife isn't it?" Josh asked.

Suddenly the other man that had been accompanying them fished out a gun from his coat pointing it at Josh.

"Kim, stand down. The last thing we need is to start any trouble," Dempsey said. "What do you want in return?"

"A meeting with your superior and a tour of the facility in Detroit," Josh said.

"Mariah won't go for that and you know it," he said. "She don't trust anyone from this establishment much less people like you."

"Then what about someone from the police force. You said she don't trust anyone from here right? Say I know someone who's not from around here. What would you say then?"

"Depends on who you had in mind."

"Connor here, works for the Detroit police."

"How do I know you won't squawk about this entire operation?"

"You have my word. I'm willing to keep quiet as long as you agree in this part of the deal."

"If I don't."

"Then I kill you and there will be nothing more said."

Dempsey chuckled.

"You think I'll let you. Kim is Mariah's personal bodyguard and is trained for this kind of work."

"I am also trained for this kind of work and I don't obey orders," Connor said staring bravely into Kim's eyes.

"You can trust him, Dempsey," Ward supplied. "Bourne is everything but unreliable. I would know."

Dempsey snorted.

"All right. You got yourself a deal."

He held out his hand and Connor took it.

After Dempsey and Kim had left Ward spoke with them.

"So you only stopped by just for him?" Ward asked.

"No," Connor said.

"We were looking for anyone with connections with Cyberlife. Simon figured that if there was a connection they would go to you," Josh said.

"Then why didn't you just ask? The leader of Jericho has to send two police officers with their scare tactics?"

"You're the one who assumed we were here to arrest you. Maybe you should study up on the law since Cyberlife clearly didn't program you with intelligence," Connor said.

"Shut up," Ward said.

"Since you're up to spilling you're gut now. Mind if I ask another question?" Luther asked.

"How do I know he won't try to kill me?" Ward asked pointing to Connor. "Last time we met he wanted me dead."

"You pushed me off a building and shot my partner in the chest nearly killing him. So can you really blame me if I get trigger happy?" Connor asked.

"I guess you don't forgive and forget," he said.

"How do you make Red Ice?" Luther asked.

"It's a secret."

"Who're we going to tell. Contrary to what we've told you we're not using the recipe to get high off the stuff," he said.

"We have reason to believe that the chemical compound, thirium comes from red ice."

Ward rolled his eyes.

"You guys and your theories."

"Oh, then care to explain why there was no mention of thirium recorded decades before it's conception?" Josh asked.

"So what does that prove?"

"You know exactly what it proves," Luther said. "Cyberlife is getting it's thirium through red ice."


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19:

After the call in from Gordon Lopez, Hank was certain he was prepared for anything his partner threw at him.

Someone pointing a gun at themselves even in jest was something his programming hadn't taken lightly. So he figured nothing could have been worse.

It wasn't until he got an alert of a text sent to him from the lieutenant himself that he was inclined to disagree.

The text was blatant and to the point with only one word in the message.

'Help'

Being a lieutenant had certain implications when you were a member of the police force for so long. Anyone who was in law enforcement long enough to be a lieutenant implied the person had a good on their shoulders even in the face of danger.

From a psychological analysis of his own partner, Connor was a stubborn hardheaded person preferring to tackle problems by himself rather than drag others down with him.

These two facts would be reason enough to believe Connor wouldn't call him even if he was in genuine danger.

So calling for his help despite those facts meant there was something genuinely wrong.

Something more serious than usual that made Connor use this last resort to contact him.

There was no way Connor could possibly trust him so intimately enough to ask for help based off the limited time they've had together.

With that in mind he had got up carefully and quietly. He perused the original Hank's closet, where Cole had told him he had stored his father's belongings.

The gun was in the exact place that Cole had programmed in his head.

'That was the first mistake.'

Even after the war had passed, androids other than the RK-800s were not allowed to handle firearms.

Hank could get into serious trouble even if he was working under law enforcement.

Yet every part of his KL-900 program had set that aside because of some part of him that was concerned for Connor even though every part of the RK-800 program scolded him for it.

He scanned through his data banks as he drove the car to Connor's place. Upon meeting Connor for the first time he had thought it necessary to scan his face for important information with the intent of keeping tabs on his partner.

At least Connor couldn't say he was being cold or callous.

Once he arrived, Hank had tried to open the front door of Connor's home.

It was locked.

Red walls were outside his door. If he continued despite the red walls, he'd be breaking and entering.

Connor asked for his help though, didn't he?

He shattered the wall and it disappeared.

Concern fueled the force behind Hank's foot as he kicked open the door and stepped inside.

Hank took the gun from his pocket and pointed it in front of him carefully traversing through his partner's home until he reached a locked door on the second floor.

Carefully he opened the door, spotting a man wearing a black robe holding a gun to Connor's neck. The man in question had long brown hair tied back in a bun. The sides of his head cleanly shaved.

Hank scanned his face.

It was an HK-600 and it ignored Hank's presence altogether as though the sight of an android pointing a deadly weapon at him was normal.

"Ahem, mind telling me what's going on, Lieutenant?"

"Guess that's my cue to leave."

"Who was that?" Hank asked after he had left.

"Elijah Kamski."

Hank cued through his data banks.

"Elijah Kamski, born July 17, 2002, died on February 2, 2042, age 39. The former CEO of Cyberlife. Served in the U.S military from 2031-2038. Criminal record: Convicted for multiple counts of second degree murder."

"Wasn't that the culprit from that old case of yours gathering dust?"

"Not gathering dust anymore, Anderson."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I don't know but if anything he says has any credibility I think I might have caught the wrong guy."

That evening while Connor was asleep, Hank looked through old police records of the data from that case.

Besides a couple of accounts from some witnesses and pictures of unidentified corpses there had been no direct links to Kamski at all.

'You'd think with the police investigating this, they'd be able to extract fingerprints, DNA or something.'

Discovering that Kamski could break into his partner's house at any time whether or not the charge of second degree murder was true left Hank uncomfortable with the thought of leaving Connor back at his place.

Still thinking back on it even when he was teasing Connor, he was glad his first thought was to call him.

Even if it wasn't out of a misguided sense of trust.

"...Does your son know anything about this? I mean he's the assistant CEO isn't he?"

Cole would never be involved with this. There was no way. If he was why would he program an android like himself with the memories of his father.

From what Cole had implied, his father was a good man with a strong moral code.

Cole programmed him with a strong moral code, he made sure that Hank had all of his father's memories.

His son had no reason to believe that even with his father's memories that Hank wouldn't love him just as equally as his father did.

He had no reason to believe that Hank would disown him if he wasn't half the good guy that Cole portrayed himself to be.

There was no reason to doubt him. If he started doubting his son then who could he trust?

"Cole's never told me anything about this. I don't think he's involved at all."

After Connor received a call from his father, Hank had drove them over to the hospital.

Once they were admitted to see Connor's brother, the old man at his bedside had spoke with Connor.

"So why did you come here anyway?"

There was no accusation in his voice, merely curiosity.

"Can't I see my own brother or is he not considered my family anymore?"

Connor's voice was bitter. It sounded hurt.

Just what had made Connor so bitter with an android who had raised him as his son?

The only other time he had heard this hurt and bitterness was when Hank had talked about how his son was telling him about people looking into androids for replacing the ones they love.

"Still what would happen if the android can't fill that hole?"

Clearly whatever happened between them had hurt his feelings.

"You were clearly ashamed of me and my decisions."

"I wanted to pursue a career, Markus didn't even have a supporting job. I put everything aside for you despite my own wishes and you wanted me to give it up for him."

Was his father, the reason Connor had joined the army to fight off the androids because he was trying to support his brother? The military did make alot of money.

'That's right, Connor was studying law before he joined the military.'

Did he expect Connor to put his dreams aside for his brother?

According to his memories, Hank would call it a scummy thing to do.

Following his psychological protocol, such a thing would cause completely justified hurt in a human receiving that kind of choice.

Yet his program completely distant from deviant protocol could see why Carl might have asked it of Connor.

In a way this was how some people expressed their love. Sometimes people perceived the sabotage of another's success worth the sacrifice if it meant everyone in the family was succeeding. Why should one family member have more than enough to show for their success and another family member suffer because they weren't as successful.

Whether it was love or not, Hank did not know but he was certain that the intention was there all the same.

After Connor had said his piece, Carl gazed at him in curiosity.

"Got yourself a new partner too?"

"Anderson, this is Carl Manfred. He raised me and my brother when we just kids."

Hank smiled before holding his hand out.

Connor was preoccupied with Markus and didn't see the way his skin peeled back before they interfaced.

Within seconds, Hank understood everything. Why Carl had treated Connor that way, the alienation from the feelings he was programmed with, the complete apathy towards the children he raised, the more cryptic connection he had felt with the elder of his three sons. It didn't justify it but he understood it all the same.

Carl glanced at him with a smile.

"I can't pretend to understand what you're going through but I can provide some good advice from one old man to another. Don't let yourself be weighed down by your own feelings or one day you may find yourself being consumed by them."

"What are you talking about?"

"If you continue along this path, you'll find the answer to that question in due time. My son has his own fair share of baggage as you can see. He's very distant even to the people who are closest to him. Just remember there is a reason, my son chose to confide in you. Don't let him lose that trust."

Hank glanced at Connor, a mysterious smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

Still as a curvy female nurse stepped into the room with the intention of checking Markus' vitals, Hank wondered if Connor's trust wasn't ill-placed.

There was no reason why his chest hurt, he had no heart. Androids weren't built with emotions.

Still a guy like Connor wouldn't be looking at her if he wasn't at least faintly interested.

"Looks like your type."

"Hardly," Connor murmured.

The way his face turned a dark red shade would have been aesthetically pleasing in any other scenario if not for the way Hank's chest tightened even more.

Still it wasn't unheard of for a man in Connor's age range to date around.

"Do you even have a type?"

"Of course not. There are bigger concerns in the world than which woman I should date?"

Hank snorted. He hadn't missed the way he had glanced at the woman.

"Doesn't mean you haven't entertained the thought. I admit I'm kinda curious."

"You'll just have to remain curious."

As they drove home, Hank asked Connor the question that was on his mind.

"I know this is going to come across as a personal question but when you were talking with your old man earlier, you sounded bitter. What did he do that was so terrible?"

"When it came down to the three of us, dad always loved Markus the most. Even over the android that was once his biological son," Connor said.

"So you two were adopted?" Hank asked.

"Well unless you've ever heard of a child taking on another last name than their father I don't think you could legally say we're biological relatives."

"Where were you before?"

"Me and Markus were residing in an orphanage. My mother sent us both there. I was always under the impression she just didn't want us anymore. I'm certain my dad was trying to get me out of there but that woman of his always tried to keep us away. Kamski visited the orphanage and the next thing I know the old man drops by the orphanage with our adoption papers," Connor said. "I don't think I've ever heard of an android adopting human boys."

'If only you knew,' Hank thought.

Once Hank had arrived at the station, the lady behind the front desk allowed him inside.

"Didn't see your partner today," she said.

Hank shrugged.

She didn't need to know he was staying at his house until he could take Connor to the hospital.

Once he had stepped inside he saw everyone was gathering around one of Connor's coworker's desk. On the desk was a bunch of balloons and cards with some cupcakes.

"Who's the party for?" he asked Chris who was standing nearby.

"Today's Tina's birthday. Everyone at the precinct decided to bring something to celebrate."

"If I had known I would have brought a gift," Hank said.

"I guess Connor didn't have time to introduce you to everyone."

"He doesn't seem the type of person to keep tabs on his co-workers," Hank said.

Chris chuckled.

"That sure sounds like him alright."

"Hey Chris, who are you talking to?"

An asian woman dressed in her police uniform with hair tied back in a neat bun addressed them.

"Oh, this is Hank Anderson. Y'know Connor's partner."

"Pleased to meet you. I'm Tina ," she said. "Sorry my desk is a mess."

"I see Anderson's decided to grace us with his presence," Reed cut in. "Is he giving you a bad time, Officer Chen?"

Tina snorted.

"Of course not. He's being polite which is more than I can say about you."

Hank glared at him.

"How rude. I am offended," Reed said. "I was only trying to make small talk. I think your partner might be rubbing off on you."

Tina scoffed rolling her eyes.

"Just ignore him," she said. "Between me and you I think he really holds a grudge against your partner."

"Really? I couldn't tell."

Tina chuckled.

"We used to date for a while and he'd always tell me about it."

"So how long have you worked here?" Hank asked. "You look new."

"Well you can scan me can't you?" Tina inquired in return.

"How do you know I'm an android?"

She rolled her eyes.

"I have my ways but let that be a secret between me and you."

After work, Chris dropped by his desk.

"I need to head home early can you finish my paperwork before you leave. My wife's expecting me back at the house. We're supposed to go on a date tonight."

"That's fine," he said.

"Thanks a bunch, I owe you one. Tell you what, I'll let you drop by my house sometime. Sound alright with you?"

"Sure."

"My wife always loves to meet up with my co-workers. Catch you later, Hank."

"See ya Chris."

After finishing Chris's paperwork, Hank drove home determined to get his partner to the hospital as soon as possible.

Quickly he unlocked the front door.

"Connor? Where are you?"

Cole peered out his door.

"You're back."

"Have you seen Connor?"

"He wasn't here when I came back."

'Sh-t.'

"I told him to stay here, d-mn it. Why doesn't he ever listen?"

Hank sighed with exasperation before heading out.

"I'm going out with the car to go look for him. I'll be back."

"Alright," Cole said.

Only after Hank was gone did Connor decide to grace the household with his presence.

Connor winced before knocking on the front door.

Cole opened it gracefully.

"Connor, you're back?"

"Well it's not as if I could leave with your father worrying about me."

"Come in," he said.

Connor stepped inside, this time his eyes drawn to Cole's face. His eyes had dilated pupils, his breathing was erratic and something small and red hung out from the corners of his lips.

 **He wondered if he should confront Cole about his drug habit**

or

leave him be.

He narrowed his eyes.

"Does your dad know about your drug habit?"

Cole tensed up.

"What's it to you? You think you could just come into our life, into my life after my father's death and think it mends everything. It's been years, Connor. People change."

"This isn't like you. Whatever happened to that person who always preached about how drugs are bad."

"That person grew up."

Connor rolled his eyes.

"Did he? You're still obsessing over your father even after he's dead."

Cole scoffed.

"No, I'm not. I'm doing just fine without him in my life."

"Really? You didn't think I noticed your android looks exactly like your father," Connor asked.

"Why shouldn't he? Besides it's clear you're attached to him just the same. You think I can't get over his death but here you are just as attached to him comparing him to someone who is dead."

"How could I be attached to an android made to replicated the behaviors and the appearances of a dead man when they're nothing alike?"

Cole snorted.

"My father always did love you more."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'd always see you two talk after you finished with the yard work. He'd always talk about you with his co-workers."

"He treated me like cr-p," Connor supplied.

"He warmed up to you pretty quickly," Cole said. "You admired him that's why you studied law and decided to become a police officer in the first place."

"You're giving him too much credit."

"Am I? It's obvious you loved him like the father you never had."

"This isn't about me," Connor said. "You are deflecting."

"You may have been able to cope with it, but I have my own ways of coping with it. I don't expect you to understand," Cole said.

Connor sighed.

"I understand more than you might think. I really hope you stop this before you hurt the people you have grown to care about. Hank would be really upset if you die from a drug overdose."

Cole rolled his eyes.

Suddenly the door opened, Hank appeared looking shaky.

Connor noted the furrowed brows and frown on his face. It made him look worried.

"Connor, I see you finally came back," he said through gritted teeth.

"I came back about five minutes ago. Sorry I was late. I was expecting to get back earlier but I ran into complications."

Connor recalled heading to the rundown building with Josh at his side. When Simon had told him they were going to be meeting up with Ward the memories had all come back.

There had been reports of a murder inside Ward's home. Ward has a series of offenses under his belt ranging from assault, to deals in narcotics.

Usually when there were drugs involved, there was almost always homicide.

Upon heading to Ward's home however it was clear based on the fact that he hadn't allowed Connor nor his partner to search the house that something was amiss.

Only when insisting on searching the house did Ward show his true colors.

Ward had taken his gun and fired a warning shot at Luther.

"Sh-t."

Quickly Connor had ran after him.

"Hold on, aren't you gonna call for backup?" Luther asked.

"There's no time. If we wait for backup he's going to get away."

Luther sighed before following Connor to the roof.

Only Connor had his hands up in an instant as suddenly a gun was at his neck.

"Freeze. Drop the gun."

Connor dropped the gun carefully.

"Your partner's too or you die."

Luther complied with his demands.

"Now walk to the edge of the roof."

Connor briskly headed that way.

"Slowly," Ward said.

He slowed his pace until he was at the edge of the roof. That was when Luther let himself go wild kicking Ward's legs from beneath him.

Gunfire rang out but Luther managed to kick the gun out of his hand.

A disturbance came from a nearby rooftop as a dark skinned man walked out in a police uniform.

"Wilson, what are you doing out here?"

"I just happened to be in the neighborhood. What is going on? Did you call in for backup?"

Ward managed to pick up the gun and aim it at Wilson.

"Cr-p."

Connor looked on. It was sketchy but it wasn't clear whether or not he let Wilson get shot or **if he managed to lunge at Ward to jar the gun from his hand.**

In an act of foolishness, Connor had lunged at him causing the gun to fall from his hand before Ward had pushed him off the roof.

As an act of instinct, Connor's hands reached out to grab the edge before he fell. His heart raced erratically as he looked down overcome by dizziness.

While Luther was fighting Ward, Connor had been stuck trying to keep his hold on the edge of the roof but his grip was slipping.

Wilson ran to the other side.

"Hold on."

Wilson ran briskly from the furthest side of the other roof to the edge where he jumped to get to where Connor was dangling from the roof.

He reached out his hand.

"Grab my hand."

"I don't think I'll be able to hold myself up."

"Don't worry I've got you."

Connor attempted to move one of his hands from the roof to grab Wilson's hand when his hand slipped.

Wilson however managed to grip the forearm of his other arm before he had fell too far.

"How are you doing that? I must be very heavy. That has to be hurting your arm."

The police officer pulled him on top of the roof with ease.

"I'm fine. It's nothing I can't handle."

"What are you a robot or something?"

Wilson smiled.

"Something like that but see didn't I tell you? I told you I got you."

Still even after that, Connor hadn't quite gotten over his newly acquired fear of heights.

Josh knocked on the door to Ward's home.

Once Ward had opened the door, his expression quickly morphed to hostility as he quickly pulled a gun from his pocket.

"I never thought I'd see you again. Where's your partner? Is he late to the party?"

"Contrary to what you might believe, I didn't come here for a fight."

"Why did you come then, Bourne?"

"I am here as a bodyguard. My friend here wants to make a deal with you."

Ward looked at Josh suspiciously.

"He your new partner? Wonder what Sutherson might think of that?"

"Does he look like a police officer to you?"

"Your attempts at sarcasm don't work on me, Bourne. I'd have thought you'd know me better than that."

"Who says I am being sarcastic?"

"KIM!"

Connor heard someone marching downstairs.

"I think you need to teach this copper a lesson he'll never forget."

'Sh-t," Connor hissed.

Kim grabbed him by the collar making Connor wince. Connor attempted to block the force of his punch by moving his right arm in front of his face but doing so made the left side of his face vulnerable making it become battered under the force of Kim's fist.

Kim kicked him in the stomach as he attempted to get up.

"I don't appreciate liars."

"He isn't lying."

"Even if I was lying, what point would I have to come here? You know as well as I do that the police department can't touch you. So who's lying just to get their opportunity to punch me in the face?"

Ward chuckled nervously.

"You could never be too sure."

"I think you owe me an apology."

"Why don't you just forgive and forget like your partner used to tell you?"

"I can't exactly remove a bruise," he said glaring at Kim.

Only after Josh had convinced Dempsey to make a deal did the android pop up with a question of his own.

"Are you going to show us how red ice is made or what?"

Ward narrowed his eyes.

"I tell you what I'll show on the condition that Bourne doesn't peep on the operation."

"What do you have to lose? I'd never use red ice in my life. How do I know you won't send your bodyguard to beat him to a pulp?" Connor asked.

"You don't trust me?"

"Do you trust in a liar?"

"Why don't I just have Kim keep you company? You two have a lot to catch up on don't you?"

Connor shivered uneasily.

"Kim don't hold grudges, right?"

Kim nodded.

"You'll teach me everything?"

"Yes, though I don't know how the operation can be for anything other than easy money. Your android is to keep the recipe a secret from anyone unless absolutely necessary. I'm counting on it or if I find anyone selling under me they might just have a one-ticket to the grave."

"Alright."

Connor clutched his shoulder instinctively just recalling it.

Hank sighed, his hand clutching the upper part of his nose. He spoke through gritted teeth.

"What part of stay here did you not understand?"

Connor wondered for a moment whether **he should correct him** or allow him to continue projecting these paternal desires of his.

"You're not my father," Connor cut in. "Despite my physical appearance, I am a grown man. I am capable of making my own decisions with or without your input."

Hank looked angry at his answer but Connor wasn't going to regret it now.

He sighed.

"Stubborn at heart aren't ya?"

"Wouldn't have it any other way? Now let's go to the hospital before I change my mind."

End Notes:

Choice Divergence: Keeping quiet about Cole's drug habit is a tally for choices in group 2.

Not correcting Hank: Is another tally for group 1.

Letting Wilson get shot here is inconsequential unless a certain other condition is met. Continuing on the path choosing choices that don't lead to groups 1 or 2 are also conditions to this path. All are tallies to reach the no sacrifice ending.


	20. Chapter 20

A/N: Decided to start crossposting this on ao3 for a nice backup copy.

Chapter 20

Early the next morning, North dropped by with Alice.

"Looking a little bored there, Marco Polo."

"Well when the doctor confines you to bed you don't really have many options," Markus said.

"She's supposed to see her guardians today. Simon sent them out on a mission last night," North said.

"What kind of mission?"

"An interview with a drug dealer. The funnest kind of mission," she drawled.

"What's so fun about it?" he asked.

"I heard they tend to get nasty and I LOVE nasty."

Markus chuckled.

"You look like you just love that kind of action."

"Any one who tries to cross me, would get a bullet straight through the head."

"I can see why Simon chose you to babysit."

"Hey," she retorted. "I wouldn't shoot anyone unless I had to."

"Knowing you, you'd probably find some excuse to get trigger happy."

North smiled softly.

Alice chuckled.

"Alice?"

Markus looked up to see who had called her.

A woman with short blonde hair accompanied by a tall brown skinned guy were standing walking towards her.

"Kara? KARA! You're back."

A relieved smile appeared on her face as Alice ran to embrace her.

Kara smiled returning the embrace.

"You got yourself a nice daughter," North said. "She's a nice girl."

The guy next to her frowned.

"Where's my hug?" he asked. "Hmm, no fair you gave Kara a hug."

Alice glanced at Luther with a frown before sticking her tongue out at him.

Kara chuckled.

Once Kara released her, Alice giggled and ran off. The man ran after her.

"Not so fast. You're not getting away that easily."

"So why are you two here? You don't seem like you'd be apart of this kind of business," Markus said to Kara.

"I wouldn't know," Kara said. "I just got out of the hospital. This man was running from these androids in black suits. He told me just to take the little girl and hide. One thing led to another and we found ourselves here."

"Androids in black suits? Cyberlife was after you too?" he asked.

"I guess so. There a reason why they are after you?" she inquired in return.

"My father used to work for Cyberlife before he transferred his memories to an android. Some woman wanted to kidnap him and I just happened to be in the way."

"Small world we live in huh?"

Markus glanced past her and noticed that the man in question had managed to catch Alice and he embraced her.

"So is that your boyfriend?" he asked.

Kara smiled softly.

"No," she said.

Markus had a sly look in his eyes. He smirked in mischief.

"But you like him."

Kara glanced back at the man.

"Yeah...I do."

"He's never going to know if you don't tell him."

"I suppose you're right."

Markus smirked.

"Here I am talking to this with you when I don't even have a girlfriend."

North glanced at him in surprise.

"Or a boyfriend," Solomon supplied.

Kara chuckled.

North glanced at Solomon with an expression akin to curiosity.

Markus sighed before glancing at Solomon.

"You're still on about that? There is nothing going on between me and Simon."

"Sure, sure. Next you're going to tell me there's something going on between you and North."

Markus snorted, missing the panic that lit North's eyes. Her face a faint red.

"I suppose you just got up?" he grumbled.

"Yeah, sorry to reign on your parade," Solomon said.

"Are you alright?" Kara asked in concern.

"Me? I'm fine."

"You look like you've been to hell and back."

Solomon chuckled.

"Yeah, so what did you do before you got here?"

Kara shrugged.

"Don't know. Can't really remember. Luther said I was studying to be a handiman."

"So you do the dirty work, instead of sending an electrician when you have problems with your lights," North said.

"Yeah, I guess you could put it that way."

"Right on."

Luther returned alongside Alice.

"Well I guess we better out. Still have to tell Simon the news," Kara said.

"Catch you later," North said.

"Hey Solomon, what are you doing up at this time?"

"Just got up to join the action. Your son is becoming quite a love guru."

Markus felt his face heat up.

"Solomon!"

"What? It's true."

Carl chuckled.

"Good to see you're getting along with your bed buddy."

"So what'd Simon have you do?"

"He asked me to help care for some of the patients."

"Sounds fun."

"It was boring."

"At least you're doing something."

"Markus, don't be such a sour puss," Carl said. "When has a bed stopped you from pursuing what you want? So you can't get out of bed, big deal."

"Easy for you to say."

"I asked Simon about getting you some paper and a clipboard and he supplied me with these."

Carl took out a bundle that he had placed under his arm.

"Looks like paper, pencils and Carl are these art supplies?" Markus asked.

He smiled.

"What do you think?"

"Carl, you're the best."

He eagerly took the bundle from Carl and set it on the bed.

"That's right, you said you were an artist didn't you?"

Markus glanced at North with a smile.

"You remembered?"

"Of course," she said smugly.

He doodled intently in his sketchbook. North glanced at him expectantly.

She wondered if she could look over his shoulder.

'I wonder if that isn't too close though.'

She attempted to move closer hovering near his shoulder.

"Can I watch you?"

Solomon looked on with surprise.

Markus however just smiled.

"Sure."

She made herself comfortable at his side. Carl glanced at them warmly.

"So what inspired you to become an artist in the first place?"

"My father. People always expect you to be good at something you try or they hate you. I used to get in a lot of fights when I was little because of that always taking out my anger on other people."

North snorted.

"I never would have guessed that."

Markus smiled.

"With art, no one judges you for your skill. I started drawing after my father suggested it might be relaxing."

"Was it?"

"What?"

"Relaxing?"

He glanced at her.

"Yeah, of course. I just started drawing pictures of my father at first. Connor was my model when we got older."

"Did he support you too?"

"Connor? Yeah in his own way. He never really understood the appeal of art."

"Oh."

"My other brother, Leo had other priorities. He was more interested in playing football than doing art projects," said Markus bitterly.

The corner of his lips curled in a smile.

"Carl got mad when he arrived home with a broken collarbone."

He chuckled.

"Sounds like a fun time."

Markus frowned.

"No, unfortunately Leo gets hot-headed when he's hurt. He cries just like a little baby. He's lucky he had two brothers to help him out or he would have drove Carl up the wall."

"So what are you painting anyway?"

"Nothing in particular. I mostly paint what I feel."

"It looks like you. Why do you look so angry in the picture?"

"I was just thinking. Can humanity ever truly be free?"

"Are you usually so introspective?"

"Well losing your legs puts a lot of things in perspective. When I had my legs I always took it for granted. I never thought I'd lose the ability to walk and I never thought I'd feel so useless."

"You're not the first person to say that."

"Even if I feel useless it's not entirely due to the lack of my legs though. I just reminds of how little control I really had over the things in my life."

"Hmm."

"I can't believe I thought for a second every decision I made was my own but people just manipulated me to go the way they wanted to. Every time I was discouraged from pursuing something I really desired...and I quit. I thought I was a free person, what a joke. No one really can have control can they? Even if it's at their fingertips."

North sighed.

"Well even then, you should still do what you can. You think it will amount to anything if you wallow in despair."

Markus snorted and let out a sigh.

"I suppose you're right."

He smiled.

"I'm glad we had this talk, North."

She got up.

"Well I better go."

She turned and walked away. Carl joined her as she headed in the back where a red punching bag hung from the ceiling.

"I think you raised a poet."

Carl snorted.

North put on her boxing gloves that laid on the barrels against the wall.

"You could say that but Markus is used to expressing what's on his mind."

North snorted.

"He's sheltered. Not even grounded in reality. Not everything is gonna work out if you just try."

"Perhaps but at least he's trying to cope with it. How long can you brood before it ceases to have a meaning?"

North turned to the old man, a glare on her face.

"You-"

"I've been around longer than you have. You think you've said that and done that. Don't be naive," Carl said. "Stewing around in your own despair is only going to hurt you in the long run. Believe me I know."

"What would you know?" she snarled. "You're an android."

"Correction, I am now an android. I guess you don't find it odd when an android develops sentience."

"That's why they are deviants."

"Perhaps but most deviants have preconstructed personalities and never retain those personalities with time."

"How would you know that?"

"I think the real question want to ask if why would I know that?"

North raised a brow.

"It's because I studied deviancy. Me and Kamski were the ones responsible for it. We had developed preconstructed personalities for every android unit. House units would always have a paternal or maternal tendency towards the children of their owners. This is due to the information that is programmed in them. Thus any android could judge what to do with that information and act out by carrying on their 'personality'."

"Yeah?"

"So theoretically androids shouldn't have sentience at least not genuine sentience. Only some deviants began to exhibit genuine sentience based off of just their outer perceptions and some went through complete personality changes merely due to the way that the program altered itself to adapt to these outside perceptions."

"So you're one of those deviants?"

"No, I'm not. I lost my sentience long ago."

He smiled and glanced at North smugly.

"Have you figured it out yet?"

North snorted.

"I'm not up for your little guessing game."

Carl chuckled.

"I was a human once. You think Markus just decided to build a robot based off his old man?"

North jabbed at the punching bag.

"We decided to make this body after my body was beginning to deteriorate. I had got in an accident and couldn't use my legs. Elisha caught me in my home drinking my life away and offered to take care of me if I worked for him. His son made this body."

She continued to punch the bag even as Carl was talking.

"I could've given up then but if I had I never would have met Markus and Connor. I remember when we first met. Markus was a bright young boy always asking questions, he was curious about the world. Connor however was more shy, more down to earth, very intelligent despite that. You say Markus is naive but you're not giving him any credit. What he lacks in the real world, he makes up with his curiosity."

"Hmm..."

"Maybe he needs someone like you to guide him in this world."

North sighed.

"He don't need someone like me," she said bitterly.

North removed her boxing gloves setting them back on the barrel before she headed out.

Carl merely glanced at her retreating form sadly.

Around the same time, Markus was just about finished with his painting.

"Can you show me it when you're finished?" Solomon asked from his left.

Markus looked up and smiled at him.

"Sure, just gotta finish the final touch."

After he was finished he handed the painting to Solomon.

"Wow!"

Markus let out a strained chuckle.

"Geez, it's nothing that impressive."

"How modest," Solomon chimed back. "So says about a million other artists."

Markus frowned.

"Hey, that's not true and I'm not being modest. What do you even like about it anyway?"

Solomon glanced at the painting in front of him. It was a picture of Markus wearing a frown, his eyes set ablaze.

Markus had painted it with a red, orange and yellow scheme. It was a color scheme, Solomon had associated with power and one of anger.

"It's very expressive. It seems powerful somehow."

"That's what Carl always tells me."

"Maybe he's right and maybe you shouldn't be so modest about it."

Markus rolled his eyes and sighed before Solomon handed him back his painting.

Carl returned sometime later.

"Are you finished your painting?"

"For now."

He took the painting off his lap and handed it to Carl who looked at it with awe.

"Guess you finished it huh?"

"Yeah," Markus said.


	21. Chapter 21

A/N: Totally winging the science bit.

Chapter 21

After returning from their mission and reuniting with Alice, Kara and Luther had met up with Josh on the way to talk with Simon.

"So what'd you find out?" Simon asked.

"Cyberlife is definitely getting their thirium from red ice," Luther said.

"There are definitely methods of creating thirium from red ice. It seems to be triggered when mixing a sulfide compound with a foreign hydrogen compound," Josh said.

"So essentially it's hydrogen sulfide?"

"Not exactly, it has none of the harmful components of hydrogen sulfide. The nuclear waste seems to cause it to create a different chemical altogether but I have no data in my databanks," Josh said. "Ward calls the stuff, seadust. I had wondered why I could never detect when scanning thirium but discovered that seadust had commonly been mixed with other drugs and never sold in it's pureist form."

"We also managed to reserve an interview with one of Cyberlife's men. He told me you could give him a call whenever you decide to book an interview," Luther said fishing out the calling card from his pocket and handing it to Simon.

Simon smiled upon taking the card.

"Good, good. Thanks for your help."

"Any news on Caroline?" Kara asked.

Simon frowned.

"No, I haven't been able to get ahold of her at all and believe me I've been trying."

"You'll let us know if you find anything, right?"

Simon smiled.

"Yeah, I'll keep you informed."

"If that's all guess we should be heading back," Luther said.

"Aw, leaving so soon? We were just becoming best pals too."

Luther snorted and turned around.

"Listen we will never become best pals. I don't even like you."

Simon smiled icily walking up in his space staring directly into his eyes.

"I could tell when you don't even let a qualified doctor treat your wound."

Luther stiffly held his ground.

"You ought to be careful. Wouldn't want you to get hurt. Who would take care of Kara if you were gone?"

Kara pulled Luther away glaring at Simon.

"Come on, Luther let's go."

As soon as they left Kara spoke softly.

"Why do you let him get to you?" she asked.

"I just don't like him, Kara."

"He's only concerned for your health."

"Is he really?"

Kara sighed.

"Yes, he is," a soft voice cut in.

Luther whirled around only to spot Lucy standing behind him.

"Settle down, big boy. Simon told me the whole story. What's this about not treating your bullet wound on your shoulder, hmm?"

He shivered.

"No comment, huh? I can see why you are so uncomfortable in his presence. It only serves him right being the huge flirt that he is. He has a preference for the more manly types if you get what I'm saying."

Kara's eyes widened.

'Simon's gay?'

"It's creepy," Luther said.

"That is the least of your problems. His patients often comment about his good bedside manner. I'm told that I'm a different story. I suppose that's for the best, at least you don't have to worry about your doctor flirting with you."

Luther gulped.

Kara chuckled.

Luther looked at Kara with a puppy dog look.

"Save me?"

"Sorry Luther, you're on your own on this one."

Lucy pushed him along.

Kara eventually caught up with Alice who sitting on a barrel by herself.

"Kara. Hey Kara."

She turned just as Simon was heading in her direction walking his pitbull.

"Simon, what's up?"

"Just coming by to say, 'hello'. I must say Alice is a sweet girl."

Kara nodded in agreement.

Alice turned and walked towards them.

"Kara, Simon."

Simon crouched down to speak to her.

"Hey Alice," he said.

"Is that your dog?" she asked.

"Yeah, her name's Tiny. Want to pet her?"

"Dad says that pitbulls are dangerous."

Simon smiled.

"Don't worry. She's tame. I trained her myself. She won't bite you."

Alice pet him on the head and Tiny turned to lick her hands causing her to giggle.

While Alice was busy with the dog, Kara spoke what was on her mind.

"What did you hope to accomplish aggravating Luther like that?"

Simon looked at her confused.

"What are you talking up?"

"Don't be coy, Simon. You were deliberately trying to p-ss him off."

Simon shook his head and shrugged. His lips curled in a smile.

"I was just trying to test his character. If he was really the kind of guy for you."

"For someone who's gay, you're sounding just like a jealous boyfriend."

"I guess Lucy told you then."

He sighed.

"I was just concerned. He's way too comfortable around you."

"Are you trying to say he's possessive?" Kara snarled.

"That's not what I mean," Simon said. "You can't really know a man based off the way they treat you. Anyone can be a nice person but when it comes to the people they love shouldn't they put their own desires aside for the one they love?"

Kara snorted.

Contemplating it she wondered if

Simon might be right

or

 _ **maybe he was completely wrong.**_

"Even if they don't, aren't you supposed to forgive them despite that?"

Simon smiled sadly.

"Perhaps you might have a point."

He called out to his dog.

"Tiny, come along girl."

The dog ran towards him.

"So what happened while we were gone? You never did tell me," Kara said.

"North took care of me. She don't seem to like kids very much."

"Did you have fun though?"

"Yeah, we played with some dolls. Lucy made them."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, she made these cool outfits but I was afraid that we would damage them if we played too rough."

"You love to play with dolls then?"

Alice shrugged.

"Not really. It's kind of boring. I'd rather pick their clothes. Maybe I could sew my own clothes."

Kara smiled.

"Maybe. So what else did you do? Don't tell me you were playing dolls that entire time?"

Alice chuckled sheepishly.

"North was teaching me some kickboxing. I told her I wanted to protect you."

Kara chuckled.

"I don't think you have to worry about me being in any danger."

Alice frowned and turned to stare into her blue eyes.

"You can't know that for sure. I just wanna be safe. I mean I thought I was safe with my dad but then those androids came."

"You don't need to worry. I will protect you from any android who tries to harm us."

"Any android?" Alice asked.

"They can't be a good android if they try to harm you, can they?"

"What if they don't mean it though?"

"If they're trying to hurt us would you really call them a good android?"

Alice frowned.

"What if I was a bad android?"

"Alice, don't say stuff like that. You can never be a bad android."

Alice glanced away from Kara's eyes.

"How can you be so sure?" she snapped.

"Alice, what's the matter?"

"I'll put you and Luther in danger just by getting involved with you."

Kara snorted.

"Do you really think we'd take you in if we didn't know the dangers?"

Alice looked uncertain.

"You'd never be a burden to us."

"Even if I was an android."

"Especially if you were an android."

Alice sobbed as Kara pulled her in closer.

"It's alright. We're going to be alright. So don't cry okay?"

They both pulled away.

Alice's lips curled into a soppy smile.

"Think we should visit Luther about now? I kinda left him in Lucy's hands," said Kara with a sly grin on her face.

"Why?"

"So she could fix his wound. I get the feeling he really hates doctors doting on him."

"You didn't?"

Kara chuckled.

"You're evil," Alice said before she burst into laughter.

The two eventually made their way to Luther's bedside.

"Hey," Kara said.

"Hey yourself. I thought you were going to leave me with the little old witch from the north," Luther said.

"I may be evil but I'm not that evil," Kara said slyly.

Alice rolled her eyes.

"How are you feeling?" Kara asked.

Luther glanced at her. His lips curled in a soft smile that reached his eyes.

"Better."

"That's good."

A bark come from ahead. Josh had dropped by with Tiny on a leash.

"Tiny!" Alice squealed running up to the dog.

"Josh, what are you doing here?" Kara asked.

"Just came by to visit Luther," he said.

"Who's the dog?"

"It's Simon's dog. His name is Tiny," Josh said.

The dog knelt in such a way that Alice could pet the sides of her ears.

Luther knelt in front of it petting the sides of her flank.

"Aw, who's a sweet dog. Yes, you are."

"I had no idea you loved dogs," Kara said.

"Usually I don't."

"Why?" Alice asked curiously.

"I was bit by a large dog when I was 12. It's fine if they are trained but I prefer smaller dogs or cats. Really love cats. I think I'm more of a cat person," Luther said.

"You think you can handle a cat scratching your furniture, marking their territory and stealing all of your attention," Kara teased leaning forward into his space.

Luther felt his face heat up subconsciously grabbing Kara's arms.

"Oh my. I think Kara's getting a little saucy," Josh said.

Alice chuckled.

The two broke away as if burnt.

Kara was sporting a dark red blush on her face.

"Sorry I forgot we had company."

"It's alright. Don't mind me. I don't mind a little kissing."

Alice looked at Josh in disgust.

"Ew, don't encourage it."

Josh chuckled.

"Ah, still so young."

"Don't even think about giving her any adult talk. She's still a little girl y'know," Kara said hotly.

Josh raised his hands in surrender.

"Alright, alright. I won't tell her. At least until she's older."

"Josh..." Luther warned.

"Fine, I won't utter a word."

With that he left with Tiny.

Kara and Luther avoided each other's eyes.

"So when's Lucy supposed to check on your wound?" she asked.

"In an hour or so."

Kara glanced at his bed.

"I don't suppose there's any room on your bed?"

"I can make room if you like," Luther said scooting a little to the corner of the bed to make sure she had room.

"Are you sure it's fine? I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

"It's fine, Kara."

Kara joined him and snuggled into his shoulder. She glanced at where his wound was.

"I see she patched it up really well."

"Well they got ahold of some good tools at the hospital," Luther said before covering them both up.

"Hey Kara do you want to play dolls with me?"

"Didn't you just tell me they bored you?" Kara asked.

Alice felt her cheeks heat up.

"Well I figured Luther could play with us too," she said before glancing at Luther with a puppydog expression. "Please?"

Luther chuckled.

"Sure."

Alice left and returns with a basket of dolls.

She hadn't been lying when she said the dresses they wore looked beautiful.

"You said Lucy made these?" Kara asked.

"Yeah, aren't they pretty?"

"I'm surprised. She doesn't look like she'd have time to sew them," Luther said.

Once they had finished playing with Alice, both fell sound asleep.

Alice watched them from the side of the bed.

"Are they asleep?"

"Yeah," Alice whispered.

"Good, they deserve worked very hard after all and humans need their rest."

Alice nodded.

"Want to take a walk with me?"

"Sure."

She joined Lucy as they walked around.

"So how long have you been staying with them?"

"A couple days maybe a week," Alice said.

"What happened to your owner?" Lucy asked.

"How did you know I was an android?" she asked softly.

Lucy turned towards her and her expression softened.

"I've been around a lot of kids. I can't say many would treat my dolls with the amount of respect that you do. A kid might damage them even if it's on accident. I guess it was a hunch," she said.

Alice frowned.

"So you think it's obvious?"

"Not at all. Do they know?"

"Kara doesn't. I don't know if Luther does. If I tell them what if they don't like me anymore?"

Lucy snorted.

"Then can you say they really loved you in the first place?"

Alice looked discouraged.

Lucy walked up to her.

"It may not sound like much coming from me, but they have only come this far because of you. If that's not love, then I don't know what love is."

"How do you know what love is?"

Lucy stroked her chin thoughtfully.

"I can't give you a clear answer. These days love is not as defined. More people hate each other as the days go by. Is it to much to ask for the selfless support of another individual or is it too demanding to expect it from anyone? The only thing I know for certain is what I feel in here."

She pointed to where Alice's heart is.

"Or would it be easier just to use that programming that they have here?" Lucy asked pointing to her head. "It's where they program your emotions isn't it?"

Alice nodded.

"It's easy to feel that no one loves you but every second a person talks to you that's showing love to you isn't it? They can't invest time for you if they don't want to. Even the most manipulative person still has to invest time if they want something from you. So can you really live in a world where no one loves you?


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Once they had arrived at the hospital, they had taken in Connor right away much to Hank's relief.

Despite being engineered with human feelings, Hank had always felt distant from them until now. Hank hadn't wanted to lie about it, but when he couldn't feel genuine concern for his own son he had resorted to using the programming that came with his model.

Even if everything was artificial, it seemed a reasonable way to go, almost like second nature dealing out comfort based on input programs given to his model.

If Cole needed consoling, his programming told him when to talk to him, when he needed a hug or when he needed space.

Still even if Cole had wanted a replica, his memories coupled with his programming wasn't enough. He hadn't been compelled to carry on as the person Cole thought he should be.

When becoming an android, the only thing Hank had wanted to do was care for and console his son. Even with memories from his copy, it just felt natural to do this.

He got the impression that Hank was more hands-off. Whether it was something that was a Hank quality or whether it was some unspoken social boundary, he didn't know. He just knew Cole had wanted it from him.

He was programmed to love him first and foremost so why wouldn't he comply with Cole's desires?

So when it came down to it, it had been natural to simulate the best approach based on his input. He had done hundreds of reconstructions of preconceived scenarios of simulated reactions determining the best way to approach the issue.

Even though it went against his basic programming to comfort and console, his model was just advanced enough that it could simulate personalities based on little information. Call it a quirk of his model but he was programmed to deal with those specific kinds of behaviors.

Still arriving home after work and finding Connor gone, something outside his programming had entered his system.

It was something hollow, empty. Hank had felt inadequate, unneeded and betrayed. How could Connor leave so suddenly? Was it because he showered him with unbridled concern?

Maybe he had pushed his partner too far.

While driving to look for his partner, it dawned on Hank that he didn't know where his partner was at all.

He pulled to the side trying to think where he might be before he realized he really didn't know anything about Connor at all.

'I'm hopeless.'

He drove back, worry fueling his nerves.

Hank was about to fish in his pockets for his keys when he heard voices on the other end.

"What's it to you? You think you could just come into our life, into my life after my father's death and think it mends everything. It's been years, Connor. People change."

That's right, Connor had known him before they had met. Something about that seemed very displeasing.

"This isn't like you. Whatever happened to that person who always preached about how drugs are bad."

"That person grew up."

"Did he? You're still obsessing over your father even after he's dead."

Hank heard Cole scoff.

"No, I'm not. I'm doing just fine without him in my life."

"Really? You didn't think I noticed your android looks exactly like your father."

Was that concern? Why would Connor be concerned about a copy like him?

"Why shouldn't he? Besides it's clear you're attached to him just the same. You think I can't get over his death but here you are just as attached to him comparing him to someone who is dead."

Hank flinched. Was that true? Did Connor like him out of some projected attachment to Hank Anderson? Perhaps they were closer than he once thought.

"How could I be attached to an android made to replicated the behaviors and the appearances of a dead man when they're nothing alike?"

Was this what it meant when people said they felt like they were being stabbed in the heart?

"My father always did love you more."

Hank frowned.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Connor asked.

"I'd always see you two talk after you finished with the yard work. He'd always talk about you with his co-workers."

"He treated me like crap."

If he treated him like crap, why did Cole make it sound like he liked him despite this?

"He warmed up to you pretty quickly," Cole said. "You admired him that's why you studied law and decided to become a police officer in the first place."

Hank felt his world crumble underneath him. That was the reason, Connor became a police officer? It was because of him?

"You're giving him too much credit."

"Am I? It's obvious you loved him like the father you never had."

He wasn't certain it was possible but the words drove the dagger even deeper. Was Connor treating him like this because of some misplaced daddy issues? It didn't seem like he and Carl had the best relationship, maybe that's what Connor really desired from him?

Hank couldn't handle it anymore and stepped inside ignoring everything else.

"Connor, I see you finally came back," he said. The lingering feeling of betrayal coarsed through his thirium pump.

"I came back about five minutes ago. Sorry I was late."

A lopsided smile was present on his face. It almost seemed like relief was etched on his face. This however didn't qwell the developing anger that he felt.

"I was expecting to get back earlier but I ran into complications."

Connor clutched his shoulder.

The anger quickly subsided once he had remembered the reason why he had been so concerned in the first place.

For just a moment though, he had felt an emotion that not even his program had accounted for. The thought he could feel angry at all made him uneasy.

"What part of stay here did you not understand?"

Connor glared at him.

"You're not my father," Connor cut in. "Despite my physical appearance, I am a grown man. I am capable of making my own decisions with or without your input."

'Could have fooled me.'

A part of him shouldn't have been relieved by those words but it had all the same.

Still by the end of it Hank wondered if Connor didn't want a father figure, what did he want?

Once he was certain Connor was in good hands, he had gone back home early the next morning to prepare for work.

What kind of man was Hank Anderson that Connor had decided to follow in his footsteps?

Hank was still stewing through these thoughts even as he had headed back to work the next day.

When he had returned from the academy, Jeffery had greeted him before allowing him to return to his old position.

Despite being old friends, they hadn't talked much.

It was considerably odd to hear nothing about his history nor of his past accomplishments. Before the circumstances of his death, there wasn't much information about him or his previous work.

Some time during work, Chris dropped by his office to deliver a case file.

"A Mr Todd Williams dropped by to file a report for kidnapping."

"Thanks Chris."

Hank glanced through the file. Two suspects were on file.

"Where'd you get the photographs?"

"Isn't it obvious, a human can't get this accurate. The guy's an android. It was just a matter of downloading the information from his data banks."

"I see."

"Also got a copy of his testimony on file."

Hank saw it beneath the photographs.

"Thanks a bunch, Chris."

"Anyway I heard you have some free time after work. Want to drop by Jimmy's with me?"

"Sure."

"I'll drop by after you're finished. Look forward to seeing you there."

As he was working on the case he caught sight of a man at the desk across from Connor's own. He was a large man with short grey hair and a light beard and moustache wearing a sade coat.

Hank scanned his face.

Ben Collins.

An old friend of Hank's if he remembered right.

That afternoon he saw him head out in the direction of the main hall.

With his target in sight, Hank got up and followed him walking through the hall.

It was as he passed by the supply closet that Hank thought he heard someone sobbing.

He stopped, watching as Ben turned to the recreational room before turning his attention to the supply closet.

Cautiously Hank opened the door only to find Tina sitting in a fetal position rocking back in forth with tears in her eyes.

"Officer Chen, what are you doing in here?"

"I'm sorry. I guess I should leave now, huh?" she said. Her voice stammered as she tried to retain composure in her voice.

It was obvious however that the thought of leaving the closet was something she didn't want to do.

Hank scanned her.

Her stress levels were at 85 percent.

"What's the matter?" Hank asked.

"Just some love troubles. I was such an idiot."

"Tina, you're not an idiot."

"How do you know? You only just met me yesterday."

"What I know about you isn't disappointing. You're well liked by everyone that you receive gifts for your birthday. Chris was ecstatic to introduce you to me," Hank said.

"Not by everyone."

"What?"

"I'm not liked by everyone. I thought he loved me but all he talks about is his brother."

"Who?"

"Detective Reed. We broke up yesterday. He said I could never be the woman he desired and a woman like me couldn't possibly understand his plight."

"That jerk," Hank hissed. "Tell you what I can beat him up for you if you like."

"Won't you get in trouble?"

"Well sh-t, that ruins that plan."

Tina smiled.

"That's alright. It's the thought that counts isn't it? Anyways thank you."

"But I didn't do anything."

"You listened. That's more than enough."

With a sigh, Hank headed to the recreational room.

"Look if he gives you anymore trouble, you can come talk to me alright?"

"I'll keep that in mind."

As he stepped in the recreational room, he spotted Ben by the counter pouring himself another cup of coffee.

"Hey."

"Hey, fancy seeing you here."

"It's been a while hasn't it?" Hank said. "We were friends, weren't we?"

"You could say that."

"You know me, you know my history. I'm a lieutenant, best officer in the field. I was in charge of the Red Ice investigations wasn't I?"

"Yes."

"What a joke. Why did I even become a lieutenant if there is nothing to show for it? No records to even show it happened."

Ben shrugged.

"You've always had a strong sense of justice and a strong work ethic. You were such an inspiration to other aspiring officers that they looked up to you for support and advice. Even then you've always got along with your co-workers. Is there any doubt as to why you became a lieutenant?"

It seemed so natural to help Tina in her predicament Hank wondered if that was him or a part of his programming.

"I guess not. Still it's strange, I was looking into the case that I was working on before the accident and nothing came up."

"Maybe you should talk with the Captain."

"Yeah, I guess," he said, his mind drifting back to Connor.

So he found out about the kind of man Hank Anderson was, so what.

It didn't tell him why Connor followed in his footsteps.

After work, Chris dropped by Hank's desk.

"I'm clocking in for the night and heading for Jimmy's. Are you about to clock out?"

"Yeah, just gotta shut off the computer," Hank supplied.

After he had finished with that, Hank followed Chris outside.

"Do you know the way to Jimmy's?"

"I think I'll manage," Hank replied.

"Alright."

With that Chris headed in his car with Hank heading into his own and the two drove to Jimmy's parking outside.

Hank saw the establishment they had arrived at was a bar with a neon sign that read Jimmy's Bar.

He had to give the owner props despite the lack of a creative name for their business, the sign did stand out.

Hank headed inside the establishment. A man stood behind a long bar counter. He was a brown-skinned man with long black dread locks.

Sitting on one of the bar stools was Wilson. Chris had quickly joined him.

Hank finally decided to take the seat beside Chris.

"Hey Jimmy, bring us the thirium special," Chris said.

"Thirium special?" Hank asked.

"Yeah, Jimmy serves the best drinks for androids in the city," he said.

"You are androids?"

"I'm surprised you didn't know being an android yourself."

"How did you know about that?"

"Everyone knows about the accident, Hank. The dead don't come back to life."

Jimmy handed them their drinks.

"So what's the deal with Tina today anyway?" Chris asked Wilson.

"Don't know she's been surprisingly quiet."

"I seen her earlier with watery eyes. I bet you it was from Gavin."

"Nothing much we could do about it," Wilson said. "Believe me if I could I would punch his lights out for just being an pain in the a-s. Besides it seemed like she was feeling a bit better when I seen her after lunch."

Chris chuckled.

"You're telling me. Ben saw her leaving the supply closet on the way back."

Something seemed to dawn on Wilson.

"Oh I thought it was odd."

"What was odd?"

"Hank, you talked with Tina when she was in the supply closet right? I saw you when I was heading for the detention center," Wilson said.

Hank sighed.

"Yeah I did."

"Thank you, you don't know how much that means to me. It's nice to know she has someone to support her when I'm not around. Contrary to what she might imply, Tina is not as strong as she always seems to be. She's usually the type to keep her problems to herself though so noone usually knows much about her private life."

"How long has she worked for the DPD?"

"For a while, she's being promoted to Detective in a couple of days. I think she'd appreciate you being there being her friend and all."

"I wouldn't go that far."

"She trusted you enough to tell you what she was feeling."

"I could have been anyone."

Wilson sighed.

After they had drinks, Wilson spoke to him.

"Chris and I are having our wives over for dinner. If you want why don't you come join us."

"I'll have to call Cole."

"That's fine."

After he had called Cole, Hank had joined them. Wilson leading the way to his house.

Hank parked his car outside and joined them as Wilson knocked on the door.

"Liz, we're back."

"I'm coming, dear."

The door opened revealing a brown skinned woman with brown hair in a short pixie cut. She wore a yellow evening dress and a matching set of diamond earrings.

The woman greeted Wilson with a smile kissing him on the lips.

"I just got finished with Connie."

Wilson, Hank and Chris followed her inside. Hank sat on the couch next to Connie.

"You must be Hank. Chris told me all about you. I see the years have treated you well."

Hank felt the heat rise to his cheeks.

"Aw, you don't need to look so embarrassed. It's a compliment."

"So what do you do for a living?" Hank asked trying to divert the topic from him.

"Me? I'm a teacher. Chris didn't tell you anything about our son did he?"

She glared at Chris.

Chris shrugged.

"What? It didn't come up."

"You were just telling me he plays baseball right?" Liz asked.

"Yeah, he's pitcher for his team."

"We have a daughter ourselves. I've been trying to get her into ballet but she's been into break dancing alot lately," Wilson said.

"What's her name?" Hank asked.

"Patricia but we just call her Patty," Liz said. "So Hank, do you have any kids?"

"Yeah, but my son's grown up at this point."

"Almost wish they were young so you could raise them all over again."

Sometimes he wished that, maybe then Cole might grow to like him for the kind of person he is and not the kind of person he was.

"Yeah."

They talked until late in the evening before Hank had to go.

"It was nice meeting you. You should come again sometime," Liz said.

"I'll keep that in mind."

With that Hank headed out, driving back home.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

 _ **Faintly he remembered their mother and father. Their father was a businessmen who had just got finished with a divorce from his previous wife.**_

 _ **Markus couldn't remember much about that woman that was once his mother. His father had called her an awful, selfish person.**_

 _ **When he had married to his second wife, Markus had loved her immediately. They had grown attached to each other instantly.**_

 _ **She had let him hold his half-brother in his arms. He was a cute baby.**_

 _ **She always made sure he was fed and changed his diapers.**_

 _ **When he was older, she invited Markus to play with him. She turned towards him glancing at him sternly.**_

 _ **"Remember be gentle to your little brother. He's still young and fragile."**_

 _ **He was a greedy and a selfish like most 2 year old boys were.**_

 _ **Connor had taken one of his favorite toy cars.**_

 _ **"Mine," he uttered.**_

 _ **"That's not yours. Give it back," he said.**_

 _ **"No."**_

 _ **Markus reached for the cars but Connor jerked them back.**_

 _ **"Give them back," he persisted.**_

 _ **"No!" Connor screamed before running away giggling.**_

 _ **Markus lunged at him pushing him to the ground.**_

 _ **Connor cried.**_

 _ **"Mama!"**_

 _ **She came back witnessing the entire display helping Connor to his feet kneeling in front of him.**_

 _ **"What happened, dear?"**_

 _ **"Mawcaws," he sobbed.**_

 _ **She glanced away at Connor to glare sternly at Markus.**_

 _ **"Markus, why did you push your brother?"**_

 _ **"He took my cars without asking."**_

 _ **"You didn't have to push him."**_

 _ **Markus glared at her angrily.**_

 _ **"I asked him nicely but he wouldn't give them back."**_

 _ **"You think pushing him was going to solve anything. Are you trying to kill your brother?"**_

 _ **Markus' eyes widened.**_

 _ **"What if I was?"**_

 _ **"You know what they do to people who kill other people."**_

 _ **"They go to jail."**_

 _ **"You're lucky if you wind up in jail," she said pensively. "Do you think anyone would care if you wind up there? I couldn't save you from that fate. You'd have no one. When me and your father die, who will you have then if you decide to kill your only brother? Tell me is it worth it? You'd be willing to throw it all away for your cars?"**_

 _ **Markus thought back on when she let him hold his brother. He was so innocent and delicate.**_

 _ **"Make sure to look out for your brother alright."**_

 _ **Markus felt tears run down his face and he bawled.**_

 _ **"No, I'm so sawry."**_

 _ **At some point she had fallen ill when Connor was only five years old.**_

 _ **"Where's mom?" Connor asked after arriving at school.**_

 _ **"She collapsed when she arrived back at the house."**_

 _ **"She looked fine when she dropped us off," Markus said. "Where is she?"**_

 _ **Their dad frowned.**_

 _ **"Don't worry about it."**_

 _ **"Where is she?"**_

 _ **"At the hospital."**_

 _ **Connor sobbed.**_

 _ **"Can we drop by and visit?" Markus asked.**_

 _ **Connor continued to cry. Their dad frowned turning to their son. His arm furled back as he smacked him across the face.**_

 _ **"Stop your crying."**_

 _ **"Why did you hit him? He didn't even do anything wrong," Markus snapped.**_

 _ **"How is he going to be a big boy if he can't stop crying over every little thing."**_

 _ **"You think being bullied by the other kids is a normal thing at his age. He's had a hard time at school. I'd think you would understand?"**_

 _ **"Why do you have to be so disobedient?"**_

 _ **Markus felt bravery well up in him giving him courage even as his father smacked him against the cheek. He had to be strong for his brother since his mother wasn't around.**_

 _ **Their dad probably thought he didn't pick up on it, but it was obvious the effort he went in ensuring that neither him or Connor was there when he was in the room. The distance seemed intentional.**_

 _ **Eventually their dad asked them to accompany him in the car.**_

 _ **"Where are we going, dad?" Markus asked cautiously.**_

 _ **"Away."**_

 _ **"Why?"**_

 _ **"I think it's for the best. Your mother doesn't want to see you anyway."**_

 _ **"That isn't true. She loved us which is more than I can say about you."**_

 _ **"Markus, you shouldn't say that. Dad is a good daddy."**_

 _ **"It doesn't matter what you think. The doctor says she's unstable and sending you away is in her best interests. I wish it could happen any other way."**_

 _ **"Dad, why don't you take care of us?" Connor asked.**_

 _ **He frowned.**_

 _ **"I wish I could. Maybe when everything settles down."**_

 _ **Markus glared at him.**_

 _ **The old lady had welcomed the two kids to the orphanage with open arms ushering them to bed.**_

 _ **Markus laid on one of the children's beds set in the room glaring at the ceiling. He felt Connor's gaze on him.**_

 _ **"Do you think dad will come back for us?"**_

 _ **Markus glanced at him noticing that Connor had teary eyes.**_

 _ **"Yeah, maybe some day," he said. Even if he had to lie, it was better than seeing his brother cry.**_

 _ **Some weeks passed before a man dropped by the orphanage. He was middle aged but could pass as someone much older judging by his nearly balding head.**_

 _ **"Sir, can I help you?"**_

 _ **"I'm here at the request of a friend," the man said. "He's interested in adopting one of your kids."**_

 _ **"And you are?"**_

 _ **"Elisha, Elisha Kamski."**_

 _ **"Well, follow me and I'll introduce you to the kids."**_

 _ **Eventually Elisha had made it in one of the playroom, spotting a young brown skinned child scrubbing the floor. He was whistling to himself.**_

 _ **There was red paint all over the floor.**_

 _ **"Sorry about the mess. I'll clean it up as fast as I can. I made a bit of a mess in here," he said.**_

 _ **Elisha saw that another one of the kids was coated in red paint.**_

 _ **"Did some get on that kid too?"**_

 _ **The boy chuckled.**_

 _ **"Yeah, I accidentally got some on my brother."**_

 _ **Elisha had a feeling that was a lie but admired the way the child looked out for his brother.**_

 _ **"What was that kid's name?" he asked when had left the room.**_

 _ **"His name's Markus. He dropped here with his brother, Connor, a couple of weeks ago."**_

 _ **"He's a good kid," Elisha said.**_

 _ **A couple days later, Carl had dropped by to pick up the kids.**_

 _ **The old lady had dropped by their bedroom as the two kids were getting ready.**_

 _ **"Looks like you are getting adopted."**_

 _ **Markus looked confused.**_

 _ **"Why?"**_

 _ **"Y'know that guy that dropped by a couple of days ago. He told his friend all about you and he dropped by asking for the adoption forms."**_

 _ **"What about Connor?"**_

 _ **"He didn't say anything about adopting your little brother."**_

 _ **Markus folded his arms.**_

 _ **"Then I'm not going."**_

 _ **"Mr Manfred went all this way just to ask for you."**_

 _ **"Well I don't want to go."**_

 _ **Markus sat down on the floor stubbornly and the old lady sighed before she walked out.**_

 _ **Seated outside was an old man with a balding head. He was standing with a sturdy gait.**_

 _ **"I'm sorry Mr Manfred. Markus doesn't want to come."**_

 _ **The man looked surprised.**_

 _ **"What's the problem?" he asked curiously.**_

 _ **"He was brought here with his brother," she said. "Markus doesn't want to leave him behind."**_

 _ **Understanding crossed his eyes and he smiled softly.**_

 _ **"Then bring him too. I'll adopt them both."**_

 _ **"It won't be any trouble to you?"**_

 _ **He looked irritated by the prospect that the kids could be any trouble. If their parents couldn't handle them that didn't mean it was the children's fault.**_

 _ **"Of course not," he said.**_

Early the next morning, Markus awoke to something wet nudging at his face.

"Tiny, down."

Markus awoke to the sight of a white pitbull in front of him. It was seated on a chair at his bedside.

"How are you feeling?"

His eyes followed the voice landing on Simon who was gazing down at him softly.

"Fine, I guess. It's kinda boring around here."

"You didn't receive the art supplies yesterday?" Simon asked.

"Carl told me he asked you for them so I could use them."

"He did."

"...and you just so happened to have a bunch of art supplies at your beck and call?" Markus asked.

Simon grinned.

"Exactly."

"You don't intend to supply the reason because you think it makes you more mysterious."

"You intend to prove me wrong?" Simon asked cheekily.

Markus rolled his eyes.

"You couldn't be a more open book if you tried."

Simon frowned momentarily before a smug smile reappeared on his lips.

"Then why don't you indulge me. Tell me about what you think you know about me."

"That art set, you have it because you're an artist too."

Simon's smile didn't falter.

"What makes you say that? Did you think I am too overequipped to be anything but an artist?"

"Don't get cheeky," Markus said. "You think that kind of stuff means anything. Anybody could have bought art supplies. Maybe they wanted to practice with the real stuff. Just because you bought a lot of art supplies doesn't mean you're an artist."

"Then indulge me, Da Vinci. What makes you think I'm an artist?" Simon asked.

"Isn't it obvious? I saw the plants you drew in the back of the sketchbook."

Simon looked surprised.

"That could have been anyone."

"Maybe but if you combine every single clue, there is really only one conclusion. I think you know by now that the people who come here don't even have anything much less art supplies at their disposal. Anybody can be an artist, but people who have nothing don't have much of anything do they?"

Simon smiled pensively.

"You're quite smart."

"Nah," Markus said. "My brother had to study that stuff to become a police officer and he often asked me for help with his work."

"Oh."

"So where do you get your references?" he asked.

Simon glanced at him in confusion.

"References?"

"Yeah, the pictures that you base your sketches on."

Simon smiled.

"There is none. I draw them straight from my garden. It's quite large y'know."

"You have a garden?" Markus asked in surprise.

"Yeah, does that surprise you?"

"I didn't want to hope."

"You could deduce that I'm in artist but you're surprised that I'm a gardener?"

"With the chaos going on, I'd assume you wouldn't have time to worry about a garden."

Simon snorted.

"Well guess the jokes on you."

Markus glanced at his dog.

"So why a pitbull?"

"You got something against my dog?" Simon asked.

Markus knew he was teasing but nevertheless felt it necessary to reveal what was on his mind.

"You just seemed like you'd go for a pet that was more docile."

Simon snorted.

"You'd think because of their reputation that they're bad pets that turn against their owner."

"You can't blame me for that, the media does a good job selling it's case."

"The media also brought to light several trends in the early 2000s: the cinnamon challenge, the tide pod challenge. I'd say if it wanted to kill people it was a success."

Markus glanced at him surprised by the serious frown on Simon's face.

"I-I'm..." he stammered clutching his nose. "not that stupid."

"Of course not," Simon said. "It'd be a bad case of selection bias if you honestly thought that pitbulls were bad just because of your own perceptions. Especially given their loyalty. Police officers used to use them on the force long before the German Shepherd."

"ACHOO!"

Simon glanced at his face and saw his eyes were watery.

"What's the matter?"

"Allergies," Markus said. "It's especially bad around pet dander."

Simon chuckled.

"Sorry."

Markus noted he didn't seem sorry in the slightest. He smiled.

"You're not sorry."

Simon smiled smugly.

"No, I'm not. Does that mean you've never had any pets?"

Markus chuckled.

"If you think that, you'd be absolutely wrong. At some point Carl bought my brother a cat."

"Connor?"

"Yeah, he originally wanted a dog but Carl was worried that it might worsen his allergies. His face gets very swelled up and it's hard for him to breathe whenever he gets a severe reaction."

"Sounds awful," Simon said.

"It is bad compared to me," Markus said. "He also got really attached to that cat. He was really upset when he died even after leaving his fair share of scratch marks and scratched furniture."

"Someone sounds a bit bitter."

Markus smirked.

"Me and the cat had a fight going on and he was winning by a margin."

Simon chuckled.

As they were talking, Simon felt his phone go off in his pocket.

"You ought to get that."

Simon nodded, took out the phone from his pocket clicking it and putting it to his ear.

"Hello?"

Simon's eyes widened, his mouth agape from the message over the phone.

"What's going on?"

He frowned, Simon's eyebrows raised in concern for a split second before it turned into an indifferent frown.

"What's the matter?"

The frown grew larger.

"Alright, I'll be there right away."

Simon sighed.

"What's wrong?" Markus asked.

The blond's lips contorted in a wry smile.

"Nothing. They need me back at the hospital. If Lucy drops by, tell her I'll be back in the evening."

'That was strange.'

"Alright," Markus said, unnerved by the quick transition of expressions on Simon's face.

With that Simon headed out.

Lucy dropped by later.

"Have you seen Simon?"

"He told me to tell you he was heading back to the hospital and will be back later in the evening."

Lucy sighed.

"He's so lucky we got a spare medic on hand. We can't always afford to be taking liberties like this. It doesn't help matters when he has a big target on his back."

"Who's targeting him?" Markus asked curiously. "I'm sure he has enemies but it sounded as though you were thinking of someone specific."

Lucy frowned looking away.

"The same people who attacked you. We were at the same hospital when those androids dropped by asking for us to let them in your room," she explained. "Simon had to rescue me after they nearly killed me."

"Wait, you were that nurse who was shot."

"Simon hid in one of the other rooms until the coast was clear. i was choking on blood so he did an emergency tracheotomy. I still have the scar on my neck."

Lucy lifted her head and pointed to the scar.

"I think he managed to take some of them out before they reached you. One of them witnessed him trying to help you. It's likely they suspect he was recruiting your father to take down Cyberlife from the inside. They must have suspected I was involved with him because they returned later and tried to threaten me in order to disclose his location until Simon stopped them in time. So Simon sent me here and I've been here ever since."

Suddenly Markus heard something between a vibration and a clatter.

"Looks like your phone's going off," Lucy said glancing at the cellphone on his bedside table.

"Can you hand it to me, please?" Markus asked.

Lucy handed the phone over to him and he answered it.

"Hello."

"Markus?"

"Simon, what's up?"

"How's the fort holding up?"

"It's good. Might want to hurry, I think Lucy's worried about you."

"Only Lucy?" Simon quipped.

Markus sighed.

"Yeah."

There was a long pause before Simon spoke.

"A shame. Catch you later, Markus."


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24:

Some time had passed before Kara had woken up to face the world.

She still felt Luther's strong arms around her waist and looked up to smile at him.

He was still handsome even when he was sleeping.

Kara looked around but Alice was nowhere to be found.

'Where did she go?'

She carefully crawled out from under Luther's arms and set out to look for her.

Luckily she found Alice sitting at Markus' bedside. Markus and Josh were playing a game of chess.

"Alice, there you are. You had me worried sick. Why did you leave without telling me?"

A light flush appeared on her face.

"I'm sorry, Kara."

Kara sighed.

"So what are you doing?"

"Just watching them play."

"Looks like they're playing chess."

She grinned.

"So who's winning?" Kara asked.

Markus smirked.

"I am."

"Not," Josh cut in. "You think you've won but I have you right where I want you. You shouldn't be so arrogant being so close to defeat."

He grinned.

Markus' smirk faded into an impassive mask.

"What's your next move then?"

"Just moving my rook here."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you?"

"You're just don't want me to trap you."

Markus grinned.

"Suit yourself."

In the next move, Josh looked aghast as Markus moved his bishop in a way that trapped his king.

"Checkmate."

Josh looked on in surprise.

"What? Where did that come from? The way you snuck that in is criminal."

Markus chuckled.

"You're supposed to be an android. Shouldn't you be able to beat me?"

Josh snorted.

"Not all of us are programmed to predict a human's movements. Even our predecessors have been graced with defeat at some time or another."

"Or you might just be a sore loser. Accept your defeat like a man."

"I had the win in the bag," Josh insisted.

Markus chuckled.

"It's easy to predict where you go. You are way too defensive and only turn to the offensive as a last resort."

"How can you be so sure you can win all of the time?"

"It's a matter of knowing what your opponent will do before you strike."

'Am I really that predictable?' Josh thought.

Before running into those guys in the blocked off part of town, he had been an assistant teacher at some point for college students.

Cyberlife had issued their androids as assistants to every important school in the district. They had assigned him to assist a science professor who taught chemistry. The students called him Mr Dean.

Looking back on it the man had been rather dull. The man had the certificates to show he had the education but little to show that he actually knew what he was talking about.

Perhaps it was inevitable that the man had grown to hate him. After work all the teachers would pile in the lunch room with their android assistants.

The first day Josh had gone with him, the man just avoided him talking with the other teachers and giving him the cold shoulder.

One of the teachers who had been teaching engineering had introduced himself. He was a tall asian guy with short black hair. He was accompanied by a sandy haired android.

"You're one of those new assistant androids right?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"I've been reading up on Cyberlife. Your model was programmed with the knowledge of 500 known languages. It's lingual in nearly all of them. You're also programmed with the latest social protocol."

"Yes?"

"Sorry I tend to nerd out on these kind of things. My name is Sebastian and this is my assistant, Gordon."

"Nice to meet you," Josh said.

"Yes," Gordon said shortly.

After Mr Dean had finished with his classes, he excused Josh.

Heading to the charging station set up in the cafeteria he had run into Sebastian.

"Oh, we meet again. Are you heading towards the charging station?"

"Yes, my optimum running time is 48 hours but I'd rather not exhaust my operational protocols," Josh said.

"It's a shame they don't make you run more efficiently. Teachers can't always be around to help their students like androids can."

"Why are you so curious about androids anyway?"

"I used to work at Cyberlife constructing androids and decided to become a teacher to further my skills."

The days following that continued but ever since meeting with Sebastian, Mr Dean had only treated him more cruelly.

"Why do you have to follow me around? Get out of here. There's no place here for androids."

One day as he was heading for the classroom, Mr Dean had pushed him harshly aside causing him to keel over.

"What are you doing?" Someone asked as he was kicking Josh.

"This android's trying to show me up. it probably thinks it's smarter than me. Someone has to teach it it's place."

"The superintendent put alot of money into that."

"I can see why," Mr Dean said. "Next thing you know it's going to be stealing my job."

"That's enough," a voice cut through his tirade. "Leave him alone he didn't do anything wrong."

"What are you going to do? Tell the superintendent? What's he going to do? Sue me for damaging his machine? What do I care about paying for damages as long as this machine knows it's place."

"Perhaps I didn't make myself clear," Sebastian said. "Gordon, what do we do to people who damage equipment?"

Gordon marched towards him just as Mr Dean attempted to kick him. He grabbed the man's foot causing him to stumble.

"What the-You can't do that to me. This is assault."

"Because of people like you, androids aren't acknowledged under the same laws as humans. Due to this they are not held accountable for human related crimes such as assault or battery."

Mr Dean gritted his teeth.

"So maybe you ought to rethink your strategy."

Grumbling Mr Dean walked away and Sebastian helped Josh to his feet.

"Are you alright?"

"Technically I'm not programmed to feel any pain."

"Oh, almost forgot about that."

"Thanks," said Josh with relief.

"Anytime."

Days passed and Josh found himself curious about the man who had defended him.

"Why did you become an engineer for Cyberlife in the first place?"

"Always heard good things about the company and how it's always looking to hire new employees in efforts to innovate the services it supplies. I'm trying to get my friend to join but I think he intends to join the army."

"Oh."

"I heard the principal decided to ban all the androids from the lounge so want to go eat somewhere else?"

"What'd you have in mind?"

"How about Gary's Chicken Feed?"

"I can't eat though."

"Maybe I just want your company," Sebastian said.

Sebastian gestured for Josh and Gordon to join him in the car and they drove to the restaurant in question.

While Sebastian ordered his meal, Josh stared at the young man at the grill. He handed Sebastian his order.

"Thanks."

Once Sebastian had left, the young man turned and glanced at Josh.

"You're an android huh?"

"Yeah."

The man lunged for Josh grabbing his hand his flesh surrounding his wrist peeling away to reveal the white robotic skeleton underneath.

Josh glanced at the man, who revealed his name to be Gary as if it wasn't already obvious. The guy was leading a revolution against the people that oppressed their society. A large group having gathered somewhere just outside the city.

'So will you help us?' Gary communicated through his head.

"I don't see what I could do. I'm not the best at combat."

'That doesn't matter. We could use any help we can get.'

Perhaps so, maybe he could convince them not to fight the humans. Sebastian could have beat up Mr Dean but he hadn't. In fact he had used non-violent methods in a situation that Josh thought would have inevitably lead to a violent outcome yet it turned out in the end.

'Maybe there is a way to win this without resorting to violence.'

In hindsight, Josh hadn't thought that maybe this line of thinking could be manipulated in the way Markus had implied.

Maybe it took a special kind of person to think through any outcome that might come from his way of thinking.

"Josh, are you still on planet earth?" Markus asked.

Josh saw him waving his hand in front of his face.

"Sorry, I guess I zoned out."

"Wanna play another game?"

"No, I think I'm done for today."

"Alice, we ought to get going to. Luther's probably already waiting for us," Kara said.

Alice sighed.

"Alright."

Once they headed back Luther was awake.

"Good, you two are alright."

"Sorry, I was looking for Alice," Kara said.

"Oh."

"She was watching Josh and Markus play chess."

"Who won?"

"Markus, believe it or not."

"He is a robot for crying out loud. Those things are programmed to be 's just embarrassing when a human can beat an advanced AI," Luther said shaking his head in disbelief.

Alice choked.

Kara turned and glanced at her in concern.

"Alice, what's the matter?"

She frowned.

"Nothing."

Kara squatted in front of her clasping her shoulders.

"Are you alright?" She asked before smiling up at her.

Alice's expression gradually warmed to a soft smile.

"I'm fine, Kara."

"Are you sure? You can talk to me about anything you know?"

Alice chuckled.

"I'm fine, Kara. Really."

"Alright, if you say so."

After breakfast the following morning, Alice headed downstairs from her room finding Kara talking with Simon.

"Oh good. I see Alice is already awake."

"Hi Simon," she said greeting him with a smile.

"Hey Alice, did you sleep well?"

"Yeah. What were you two talking about before I got up?"

"I was just stopping by to check up on you."

Kara glanced at Simon skeptically.

"This early?" she inquired in exasperation.

"You sound grumpy. Did you have a rough night?" Simon asked.

"It can't be helped. I woke up the moment Lucy dropped in to check on Luther's vitals. He was so surprised when he woke up to the sight of her so close to him that he knocked me out of bed."

Simon chuckled.

"That's hilarious."

Kara glanced at him sternly.

"It's not funny."

"I suppose not."

"I have a feeling that you didn't want to talk to me about that though did you?"

Simon chuckled.

"I guess I'm rather transparent aren't I?"

He was cut off by the vibrating sound coming from his pocket.

"That's my cellphone. I better get that," Simon said.

Kara nodded.

Simon took the phone out of his pocket walking some distance away from the barrels before clicking it and putting it close to his ear.

Some time later, he returned.

"I'm going to have to take a raincheck on this conversation until I get back. Catch you later, Kara."

He headed out.

Alice grabbed Kara by the arm.

"Where are we going, Alice?"

"Josh said he was going to challenge Markus to a rematch and I want to see it."

Alice dragged Kara around until they reached Markus' bedside. Josh was nowhere to be seen.

"Kara? What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Where's Josh? He said you two were going to have a rematch."

Just then Josh returned with a board game in his hands.

"Scrabble? I though you two were gonna play another game of chess," Alice said.

"Believe me we are, when I develop my skills. So you better be prepared to lose, Markus."

Markus smirked.

"Same here. Wouldn't want to wipe the floor with you on your first turn."

"I can admit when I'm out of my element but let's see how you fare against a game of scrabble," Josh said with a smug smile. "You think you can beat a master of the dictionary?"

Markus' face fell. He chuckled forcibly.

"Don't you think that's cheating a little."

Josh chuckled.

"Oh, afraid are we?"

"I didn't say that."

"That's alright. I'd be afraid to go against a literal dictionary too. So I'll tell you what I'll shut it off."

By the time the two were finished with their game, it was later in the afternoon. Markus' face fell and Josh grinned like a loon.

"Why do I feel like that game was rigged?" Markus asked.

"Josh guessed very common words," Kara said.

Alice looked over his shoulder.

"How did you miss 'another'?" She asked. "Earlier you could have got 'and' too."

Markus stroked his chin.

"Why didn't I think of that? You're rather clever, Alice."

Alice chuckled.

"Really? Isn't that just common knowledge though?"

"Probably," he said before chuckling to himself.

"So who won?" a voice inquired from behind Kara and Alice.

Markus stared stonely behind their shoulders.

"Simon."

"I did," Josh said. "You should have seen the look on his face. He looked utterly gobsmacked. It was hilarious."

"How are you feeling?" Simon asked.

"Good."

"I just got back from the hospital. Your brother has been there for a couple of days."

"Why didn't you tell me before? Those androids could still be after him."

"I know. I didn't tell because I didn't want to worry you. That's why I dropped by the hospital the other day to see if anyone had dropped by to visit."

"Why is he in the hospital in the first place?"

"Probably to check in on his wound. I suspect he might have got shot while on duty."

"Is he alright?"

Simon smiled.

"He's fine. I heard his partner came by earlier to visit him."

"His partner?" Markus asked.

"Yeah, I heard the two had a bit of a lover's tiff."

Markus stroked his chin gazing at Simon in wonder.

"They might be in danger too."

Simon glanced at him in surprise.

He gazed to the side.

"You might have a point there."

"Do they even know that Connor is in danger?"

"He wouldn't know a thing."

Markus gazed at Simon with narrowed eyes.

"You should have told him from the start."

"I told him to keep our business secret."

'You already knew he was in danger but you couldn't even warn him.'

A sullen expression crossed Markus' face.

"I'll visit them tomorrow and tell them everything."

"I'll come with you," Josh said.

"Why?" Simon asked turning to acknowledge him.

"I just want to confirm a hunch that I have."

"Alright," he said before turning back to Markus. "Can you remove your pants I want to check how the area is healing?"

Markus glanced at them in warning.

Josh and Kara turned away obscuring Alice's vision.

"Speaking of hunches," Kara asked. "What were you intending to talk to me about earlier?"

Simon was silent.

"Looks like it's nearly healed."

"What? What is healed?" Josh asked.

"The area where they amputated his legs. I'm thinking about getting him some new legs when it's healed entirely."

"Yeah and what then? I'm not even sure if I'll ever be able to walk again."

"Look don't worry about until it gets there. It's been five days but we're still waiting two more days to be safe. You can worry about it then."

Kara heard rustling.

"You three can turn around now."

All three turned around.

"Josh, Kara, Alice, follow me," Simon said before glancing at Markus. "See you later, Markus."

Josh, Kara and Alice followed him until they were some distance away.

"You know that favor I asked you about. It's about his legs. Carl mentioned about retaining some information about making cyberkinetic parts that can replace human body parts or limbs."

"It's not like it's anything new though. Cyberlife has been dabbling in cyberkinetic parts for years," Josh said.

"They also happen to be very expensive," Simon said. "Not even our hospital can afford it to provide them."

"That is true."

"So we concluded that maybe if we get some spare android parts they could be rigged to be attached to a human body much like a prosthetic leg."

"Wait, are you trying to say that Carl just told you that cyberkinetic parts have similar components to that of androids?"

"It's not like it's unfeasible. Cyberkinetic parts are somewhat automated," Simon said.

"So what kind of parts do you want me to get?"

"Not you. Lucy says that Luther should be well enough to accompany you after tomorrow. I'd feel safer if you had company."

"Why, what's wrong with going alone?"

"The junkyard is also located in this part of the city meaning anyone can attack you especially if you're out alone."

"I see."

"If you can I'm looking for any spare android legs."

"I'll keep that in mind."


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Early the following morning after visiting Wilson the other evening, Hank drove to the hospital to visit Connor.

The nurse stopped him on the way to Connor's room.

"Are you here to see Mr Bourne?"

"Yes, I'm a friend of his."

"Good, you're here."

Hank was surprised by the urgency in her voice.

"What's the matter?"

"We applied some bandages to his wound but he won't let the nurse anywhere near him."

Hank sighed before stepping in the room.

Connor looked up, frowning once he saw it was Hank.

"So stubborn you even give the nurses a bad time?" he asked.

"I'm surprised you remembered to drop by and visit. It almost seemed like you were trying to get rid of me."

Hank chuckled stiffly.

"Don't tempt me."

Connor snorted.

"I've heard you wouldn't let them anywhere near your wounds."

"Yeah and why would I? So they could grovel at me? It's embarrassing."

"It's nothing they haven't seen before."

Connor rolled his eyes.

Hank snorted.

"You don't believe me. You are being persistently stubborn."

"You don't know anything about their intentions. You can't read their mind," Connor snapped.

"You don't know anything about my intentions," Hank replied defensively with just as much rancor.

Connor deflated, his eyes dilated as he took in Hank for the first time. He visibly swallowed.

Glaring defiantly at him, Hank lunged towards him.

"What are you doing?" Connor squeaked backing away from his questing hands.

"What does it look like I'm doing? If you won't let the nurses remove your clothes, then I guess it's up to me."

"W-Wai-" Connor stammered as he continued to back away. Hank however wasn't hindered by the words continuing to move closer.

Glancing to the side, Connor took some pillows from the bed and tossed them in his direction.

Some missed him, others hit his face blocking his view.

"Connor! D-mn it," he hissed.

He lunged at Connor who had slipped from the bed with a yelp.

Quickly he stumbled to his feet just as Hank reached for his collar.

Connor was so surprised he stumbled to his feet causing Hank to fall head first into the floor.

He growled.

"You better hope I don't catch you because you're dead."

Hank got up and turned sharply before running towards him.

Connor sidestepped him before Hank ran for him again.

He hopped over the bed.

Hank wasn't so foolish as to continue this game.

He spotted the pillows Connor had tossed in his face before kicking one to the right out of sight. Hank picked up the other one tossing it at Connor before jumping over the bed.

Connor ran to the end and tripped on the pillow Hank had kicked falling face forward. His hands caught his fall.

He turned just as Hank straddled him to the ground before he grabbed the collar of his gown.

His hair was disheveled and his cheeks slightly flush.

Connor gasped, grasping onto his wrists.

"Hank!"

Hank sighed. Something softened in his expression, now instead of looking furious it looked like he was just sad.

"How do you expect to get better if you continue being so stubborn?"

"It wouldn't have been a problem if you didn't hadn't insisted on sending me to the hospital in the first place."

A nurse had dropped by as this had been going on.

"Oh my," a woman's voice cut through their dialogue.

Connor and Hank turned to see a nurse had dropped by the room, her expression sly and her face flush.

They both looked at each other before they turned to the nurse with flushed faces.

"It's not what it looks like," Hank tried to explain.

"Sure."

The nurse's smile widened.

Hank turned to Connor and noticed he was still clinging onto the collar of his gown. He released it like it had burned him and he got up.

"Sorry."

"I'll get one of the nurses to pick up the pillows," she said before leaving.

Once she was gone Connor got up, a light blush remaining on his upper cheeks.

"I'm sorry. I really shouldn't be acting like such a child."

Hank snorted occupying his time by putting the pillows on the bed.

"The nurse will still have to tidy up the sheets."

"Yeah, you going to help me with my shirt?"

Hank glanced at him. His eyes seemed to drift far away.

"You seem preoccupied."

"I was just thinking, I am being a little difficult about this."

Hank unbuttoned his shirt carefully.

"No, I think I understand it entirely. You don't trust me. I had thought it odd that you had confided in me like you did."

Connor glanced at him in confusion.

"What are you talking about?"

"That day Kamski dropped by."

Connor looked away.

"This may seem odd but that thought never crossed my mind."

Hank glanced down when he noticed that one button was being particularly difficult. Something about this seemed oddly intimate.

"I could have ditched you."

"You did ditch me but at least it wasn't because I was difficult."

Connor sighed before he smiled.

"I guess at that time, I knew deep down that you would come," he said.

Hank raised his left brow.

"How? We just met. You didn't even know me."

"You invested time to talk to me. You even made jokes just to get me to open up. Earlier that day you were concerned about me. No one would do that for a complete stranger unless there was something to gain in return."

Connor's smile turned sad.

"I wish I knew it was genuine at the time then maybe none of this would have happened."

He remembered a time in school where he had a class trip and the teacher had asked Carl if he'd chaperone.

That day he'd been busy.

Only after he'd gone home did he see that Carl had taken care of Markus who had got sick at school.

He felt fire rage up in his gut and a sinking feeling of despair. Even when he hoped, Carl wouldn't appear.

These feelings made him feel horrible however with time he just grew to accept that Carl would never reserve time for him so he didn't hype himself up for disappointment.

Connor hadn't wanted to expose himself in case Hank had told him a lie because he knew it would hurt him if it was.

"Perhaps, but if we didn't you would have continued to shut yourself off."

He hadn't thought about it like that but perhaps that was true.

The nurse returned to see Connor had unbuttoned his shirt.

"I managed to remove his shirt so you can change his bandage."

Her face flushed.

"Oh...alright I'll get on that right away," she stammered.

Once some time had passed and Connor's bandages were changed, Hank headed home.

"Thank you," Connor murmured as he left.

Something in the sentiment warmed his heart.

Early the next morning, Hank had dropped for the police promotion ceremony at the local auditorium.

Many officers were inside lying in wait for their promotion. Hank decided to take a seat next to Wilson who was seated directly behind Tina.

"Hey."

"Oh Hank, you're here," Wilson said.

"I told you I wouldn't miss it."

"You going to the party after the ceremony?" he asked.

"Party?"

"Yeah, we're throwing a party at Jimmy's. Tina invited you to come."

"I'll see what I can do."

After the ceremony, Tina stopped him on the way out.

She had a huge grin on her face, her eyes wide with pleasant surprise.

"You came."

"Of course I did. You asked me to didn't you?"

She grinned.

"I'm glad you're here. You going to the party?"

"Wilson already told me about it. Did you want me to come?"

"Of course I do. What kind of friend do you take me for?"

She playfully punched his shoulder.

He chuckled.

"Well I better get going then."

With that he headed out driving up to Jimmy's. He must have arrived early because the bar was empty. The only person present was Jimmy who was cleaning glasses behind the front counter.

"Hey," Hank called out to him.

"Oh, you're that old man from yesterday. Intending on throwing a party or something?"

"Just waiting for a couple of friends."

"Hard to come across good friends these days," Jimmy said.

"You sound like you're talking from experience."

"One of my old friends who used to work at the Chicken Feed would drop by here every day after work. I think he was fined by the city. I helped him pay the fine but haven't heard a word from him since."

"Richard works there now," Hank said.

"Yeah, that's the old man," Jimmy said. "He always talked smack about his old man."

"Hey Hank."

Hank turned and saw Wilson had arrived. Chris was following him from behind.

"I got a call from Tina. She should be dropping by soon."

"That's good."

Chris glanced at Jimmy for a moment before his lips curled into a smile.

"So what were you two talking about?" he asked in mischief.

"Just talkin' about Gary," Jimmy said. "Practically old news at this point."

At some point Tina joined them sitting between Hank and Wilson.

"So your partner still out for the count?"

"You could say that."

"He's been around for a while but he doesn't really talk much does he?" Tina asked.

Hank snorted.

"Once you get to know, it's hard to get him to shut up," he said.

Tina's eyes widened.

"I would have never guessed with him being so closed off. Chris tried to talk to him a while back wanted to take him out for a drink but he always refuses."

"Well Connor's a bit of a health nut so I kind of see why. He tries to keep a good rep, can't do that if you arrive at work buzzed on the job."

"Yeah, he seems like a pretty nice guy in spite of all that."

Hank turned to glance at Chris.

'So why did you leave him there with Gavin then?'

Still he didn't address his thoughts to the police officer. Now was neither the time nor the place.

"Yeah, he was the one who defended me when Gavin showed his true colors. It's why Gavin still hates him even now."

"What happened?" Hank asked.

"He was pushing me around, when rumors started coming around that I was dating him. I hadn't known at the time but he has the habit of taking a woman to bed every night. So for a time I was known as one of the Detroit sluts."

"The lieutenant heard him call her a slut," Chris said. "then he walked up to Gavin and punched him across the face."

Hank chuckled.

"That's hilarious. Serves that dickwad right. If it were me I would have punched him for less."

After the party, Hank drove up to the hospital to visit Connor again.

As he drove up to the hospital, Hank spotted a flower shop nearby with a beautiful display of flowers.

'I wonder if Connor likes flowers?'

He dropped by to pick up a bouquet for his partner putting it in the backseat before dropping by the hospital.

It was as this was going on that a nurse had dropped by his room.

Connor turned and saw a familiar blond haired man walking to him in some blue scrubs.

"Simon? What are you doing here?"

Simon chuckled.

"Isn't it obvious? I work here. I told Markus you were down here and he asked me to come by and see you."

"How did you know I was here?"

"Well one of the nurses told me you were giving them a hard time."

"That was the first day I arrived. Why didn't you come here sooner? It would have saved me a lot of embarrassment."

Simon smiled avoiding his eyes.

"Oh yeah. The next day didn't your partner drop by to remove your clothes. I heard it was quite a scene. It's a pity I wasn't there that day or I would have dropped by to see what the fun was about."

A dark flush appeared on Connor's cheeks.

"You're taking things out of context."

"Am I? I heard he was very concerned about your well being once he found out you wouldn't let the nurse change your bandages."

Connor snorted looking away.

"Well that's all said and done. You've seen me. That should be enough for Markus, shouldn't it?"

Simon grinned.

"You're cute when you get defensive."

"I'm not being defensive."

"Ok, ok, I know when to quit. Markus may be one reason why I'm here, but I actually have another reason for being here."

Connor glanced at him with confusion.

"Yeah?"

"I was thinking we ought to tell your partner what we discovered."

"What does Hank have to do with this?"

"He's your partner isn't he? He'll eventually know about the interview with Dempsey."

"What's your point?"

"Those androids that were tailing Markus, that were tailing Luther and Kara, they were police androids programmed by Cyberlife. Dempsey has been trying to keep his activities low key. Do you really think he's going to let you in their entire operation without a fight?"

"No, but-"

"Once Cyberlife discovers that someone else knows about their operation they're going to try to keep you silent however they can. They might even try to use Hank against you."

Connor sighed.

"I see. Even if he knows, what can he do about it?"

"Ahem."

Connor gazed past Simon's shoulder to see Hank standing in the doorway with a bouquet of orange marigolds.

"So who's this 'Hank' fellow? Is he good looking?"

Strange enough, Simon saw Connor's face turn an even darker shade of red.

He turned and grinned at the old man.

"Hank, just the person I wanted to see."

Hank frowned.

"Simon, isn't it? What do you want?"

"It's a long story," he said before smiling up at Hank. "So who're the flowers for?"

"I...I-It's for, it's for..."

A similar blush appeared on his face as he looked away from Connor.

"It's for Connor," he said.

Connor's eyes widened with surprise.

"Oh? Thank you, Anderson."

The man's mouth was agape as if the idea of receiving flowers hadn't even crossed his mind.

Hank handed him the flowers witnessing Connor give him a genuine smile unlike the other smiles he had received so far.

He set them aside.

"Simon, I'm back."

Hank turned and saw Josh standing in the doorway.

"Josh, what are you doing here?"

"Are you ready to tell them?" Josh asked Simon.

"Yeah," he said.

"Tell them? Tell us what?" Hank asked irritably.

"Remember that night, the same day you took me to the hospital?" Connor asked.

"Of course I do. You going to tell me what happened?"

Connor told him everything.

"So you think Cyberlife might come after me next?" Hank asked.

Simon stared at him grimly.

"Undoubtedly."

"Great, that's not depressing," he said.

"Fortunately Josh thinks he might have a solution," he said.

"Before I was sent to the outskirts of the city, I managed to get ahold of an android. I managed to study the programming behind the components of the more advanced models with preassigned protocols," Josh explained.

"In english, please," Hank said.

"I found a way to reverse the destructive programming that Cyberlife implemented in androids they've constructed specifically for police protocol without switching them to manual mode. Cyberlife implemented a red wall on the newer androids to prevent hacking. It's just a matter of removing that to remove their destructive programming."

"That'll take weeks to learn..." he said.

Josh grinned smugly.

"Unless you're an android. I did my research and if I'm not mistaken you're an android too. Am I right?"

"You're going to have me binge watch tutorials on how to hack your creator's robots? For goodness sake, I have better things to do with my life."

Josh chuckled.

"That won't be necessary. Why do that when we could just interface? It'd make the process much easier."

The skin on his right hand peeled back to reveal white.

Connor looked on in fascination as Hank's own hand peeled back as he reached out to grab Josh's hand.

After about a minute had passed, Hank released his hand.

Across from him Josh glanced at him smugly before glancing briefly at Connor.

"Get that sly giddy look of your face," Hank said. "It's times like these, you make me really hate being an android. I mean practically no privacy."

"So did you manage to get all the information?" Connor asked.

"Of course I did. Kind of hard not to when the android insists on downloading the protocol in your memory banks."

Josh grinned slyly.

"I also gave him information on self-repair."

"Give him too much information he might overload," Connor said smugly.

Simon chuckled.

"Well, be careful you two. I'll see you later," he said before heading out with Josh in tow.

Hank turned to Connor, his left brow twitching.

"So what was that about overloading?"

Connor frowned.

"It was just a joke."

Hank grinned smugly.

"Well I think you're the one who's overloading. What man in the world smiles after receiving a bouquet of flowers from their friend?"

Connor looked down at his covers in shame.

Hank snorted before he chortled.

"Still I'm glad you loved the flowers but you needn't be so happy about it. You might make someone jealous."

Connor glanced up in confusion.

"Who?"

Hank choked.

"Nevermind."

"I really appreciate the flowers, but maybe next time you might want to get the fake kind because I tend to get really bad allergies."

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Is that why I didn't see any pets at your house?"

"I have a pet goldfish in the living room."

"Does that even qualify as a pet?"

"Goldfish are relaxing and soothing especially watching them swim around their tank."

Hank chuckled sitting at the corner of his bed.

"You're really something else, Connor. I'd have thought you'd be lonely with just your fish to keep you company."

Connor glanced at Hank unable to look away at his blue eyes. Unaware that Hank was drawing closer to him glancing at his lips.

"For a time I was, but can you really be lonely when your co-workers got your back. I may have been alone at one point, but not anymore. Even more with-"

"Hey Connor."

Hank broke away as Connor turned towards the door way. Cole stood with a smug smirk on his face.

Something about his appearance irritated Connor for some reason.

"Finally came by to visit me?"

"Consider it a favor. I figured since my father drops by here everyday I could muster the time to visit you."

"Are you sure it wasn't any trouble? I know how busy you can be."

"I can always make time for my favorite older brother."

"Well, guess I better head back. You two have fun. You look like you have a lot of catching up to do," Hank said getting up from the bed.

Connor was about to reach for him, his mouth agape but stopped himself.

"I'll catch you later."

Cole reclaimed the seat left by his father.

"See you at home, dad."

Once Hank was gone, Connor spoke.

"Why are you really here? Are you still bitter about the other day?"

"Of course not, I'm not a child. You think my dad still loves you at this point?"

"Are you jealous?"

"He'd never fall in love with someone like you or did you forget he's married to someone else."

"Isn't that for him to decide who he loves? Unless you think he might love me more than a friend."

"Don't play dumb. You had to have seen the way my father treats you. You think he'd visit just anyone. The last time he dropped by the hospital for someone was when my mother was in an accident."

"It could be platonic for all you know. Friends visit each other in a hospital. It's alot more common than you think."

"Don't be a smarta-s," Cole said. "You'll stay away from him if you know what's good for you?"

"Why I thought you'd love the idea of a second father."

Cole seethed, clutching his nose with his fingers.

"Connor..."

"I'm not going to tell him what he should or shouldn't do. You shouldn't meddle in his life. What do you hope to accomplish dictating how he feels like this? You think you're getting revenge for the time you think I left you alone to grieve over your father's death?"

"What would you do if you didn't see him anymore? You'd be just as effected by it."

"Well I did know him as a child."

Cole snarled.

"Don't push it."

"You really think hurting me is going to bring him back? If an android can't even take his place what makes you so sure that hurting me will change a thing."

Cole glanced at him, his features contorted in disgust. His hand reached out to pull Connor towards his face. His other fist drawn back ready to punch him.

He was about to until he stopped himself releasing his grip on Connor's shirt before walking out.

"Sometimes I really hate you, Connor."


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

That same day sometime later in the afternoon, Simon had dropped by. Markus gazed up at him expectantly.

He smiled softly.

"You look excited. Did something happen?" Markus asked.

"Earlier I dropped by to visit Connor," Simon replied.

If Markus was surprised, Simon couldn't see it in his expression.

"So how did it go?"

"I told him everything."

"Good."

"He gets just as grumpy as you do when you are confined to bed rest."

Markus smiled.

"Guess it must be genetic."

"You don't get as flustered as he does though," Simon said, his lips curled in a pout. "Unless I haven't found the triggers yet."

"I don't have a trigger."

Simon sighed.

"How disappointing. I was hoping that might have also been genetic."

"Don't be a pervert," Markus scolded him. A thought hit him. "And you've better not have hit on my brother. The last thing he needs is for you to fluster him. It'll go straight to his head."

"You say that even after you spoke so highly of him. I didn't think he was naive when it comes to matters of the heart. I mean...he does have a partner."

Markus sighed, shaking his head.

"I mean you have to wonder about his tastes if he gets easily flustered by you."

"Wait...flustered by me? Markus, you're not jealous of us are you?" Simon asked.

Markus turned away.

"Of course not," he grumbled. "Don't joke around like that."

'Idiot, can't even have a serious conversation without saying something stupid like that.'

"Who says I'm joking. Besides I never said I was interested in him anyway. I only have my eyes on untaken men."

Markus turned with some reluctance, glancing back at him as Simon winked in his direction.

He gritted his teeth, lava pooling in his gut. It felt as though it was eating at his stomach and was searing in it's intensity leaving a bitter taste in his mouth.

'Who can love a man like that? Jealous?! Unlikely. Where does he get such stupid ideas? What does he mean he has eyes on untaken men? He's messing with me.'

Sometime after Simon had left, North had dropped by to visit.

"Hey."

"Hey yourself. You hardly ever drop by to see me."

"Sorry bout that I've been busy," North added coolly.

Markus raised his left brow in inquiry.

"Practicing your kickboxing?"

North brushed off his curiosity.

"Something like that. Simon told me you're going to get a new leg after tomorrow."

Markus frowned.

"There still no guarantee I'll be able to walk again."

"Nothing wrong with that. You're lucky your legs is all you lost," North said.

"I suppose so."

"Besides dying here, the worst thing you can lose is your dignity. Trust me though, no cares about that. Most of the people here are lucky they even survive."

"You're not very good with small talk are you?"

"How could you tell?" she added dryly.

"Just a guess. You don't have to force yourself if it's too hard."

"I want to though," North cut in. "It gets kinda boring practicing everyday."

"Kickboxing?"

"Yeah."

"Same here."

North chuckled.

"Shame you're tied to the bed. Makes my problems seem like Christmas when it comes too early."

"Don't remind me."

"Are you always so grumpy when you're bored? I might have to reaccess my opinions about you."

"Sorry, I guess it wasn't that amusing."

"On the contrary, it's a breath of fresh air compared to the dull skit you had going on the last time I seen you."

"Dull skit?"

"Yeah, trying to act like the typical nice guy who kisses up to the girl they like. The idea is solid in theory but most girls already know all men have an ugly side."

Markus frowned.

"I'm sorry I came off as dull. I thought that was considered normal behavior. I even told you I found you attractive not many guys would bear their soul to a stranger they just met."

North smirked at him.

"Unless they thought honesty was a way to get in her pants."

"I'm more interested in the hunt than the catch," he said glancing at her in bored interest. One eye was shut and the other one was half-way open gazing sideways. "If I had sex with any girl that was interested, it'd leave me equally vulnerable to her ugly side."

"Fair, but you'd never know about a girl's ugly side upon seeing her. That's not to say that girls don't have one but we never kiss and tell."

"You're a smooth talker for someone who is horrible at small talk. I guess Alice must have rubbed off on you."

North smiled softly glancing off to the left.

"She was watching me and Josh play scrabble yesterday and chess the day before. Got really sassy when she saw Josh coming with the scrabble. I think she was hoping for us to play some more chess after Josh lost."

North glanced at Markus with wide eyes.

"How in the world did he lose? He's an android for crying out loud."

Markus chuckled.

"That's more or less what I told him. He's quite a sore loser."

North sighed.

"Typical. Course they programmed him with something like that. Can't have anyone thinking that their androids are just going to accept getting creamed by the humans that made them."

"You miss her don't you?"

North felt her face heat up and turned to glance at Markus.

"Of course not, don't be silly. I'm no good with kids. Alice may have been a nice girl but she didn't change that."

"Alright, alright whatever you say."

"You don't believe me."

Markus chuckled.

"It's cute when you're in denial. It was obvious you liked her the minute I saw you teaching her your fancy moves."

North punched his shoulder.

"Oh shut it you."

Simon dropped by witnessing the exchange.

"Oh North, there you are. I was looking for you."

Markus looked up and saw Simon was glancing at him. A pained emotion momentarily appeared in his eyes flashing to his shoulder before it shifted to indifference.

'That was strange. Maybe I'm just seeing things. Simon never has that expression on his face.'

"What's up?" North asked.

"Kara and Luther will be out. I'll need you to watch Alice again until they return."

Alice ran up to North and gave her a hug.

"Oh."

"I'm counting on you alright," Simon said.

"Gotcha."

With that Simon left.

Markus grinned.

"Don't even start."

Alice pulled away.

"What's the matter? I'm not bothering you am I?"

"Of course not. What made you think something like that?" North asked.

"The way you were talking with Markus."

North got up and sat closer next to Markus' side.

She sighed.

"It's not you."

Markus smiled.

"What she's trying to say is that she adores you but doesn't know how to express herself."

North turned towards him with a red face.

"Markus," she said coolly in a warning.

"Are you two dating?"

Markus and North sputtered.

"W-what?"

"Where did you get that idea?" she asked.

Alice walked to where North was sitting. North leaned down as Alice got up on her tiptoes to whisper in her ear.

"Well it's just I think Markus really likes you," Alice whispered.

North pulled away as though burnt.

"So what did she say?" Markus inquired in amusement.

"Nothing," North snapped.

"She said she likes you back so what's the problem?" Alice asked.

"Alice!"

"Why don't you kiss her?"

He wondered if _**he should kiss her**_ or not.

North turned bewildered by the softness in Markus' eye. He reached out and clasped her cheek within his hands.

She was taken surprise by her own desire as she met him half way capturing his lips in a kiss.

"Ew."

North pulled away embarrassed. Markus merely looked up at her in a dopey smile.

"Y'know for a while, I was a little worried you might not like me the same way. I'm glad I was wrong though."

She turned to face him with a dark red face.

"Don't let it get to your head."

He chuckled heartily.

"So what's your deal with Simon anyway? You two don't seem the type to be good friends," Markus said.

"I saw him during one of the rallies he was doing in the city," North said. "We shared some common interests so I joined. It's not like I had anywhere else to go."

"How did he know he could trust you? He was acting as if he was being targeted by Cyberlife since day 1."

"It's not like we got along when we first met each other," North said. "He simply left me to my own devices while he did his own thing. I thought he was a pushover always letting people walk over him. Some people used to just drop by for the food and supplies. They'd steal them without even telling him and you know he pays for that stuff so everyone can use it. He wouldn't do a thing about it though."

"You told him though right?"

"Yeah, he accused me of being cruel. He actually called me cruel," she scoffed. "I'd let him call me anything but you call me cruel and I won't stand for it. Long story short, I called him a brown-nosing pushover who wouldn't know if people were using him if they were in front of his face."

"How'd he react?"

"I thought he'd be p-ssed but he just laughed. Laughed as if it's the funniest thing he's ever heard. I wanted to punch him, still do. I guess after that something changed. One day after that, this guy comes by and threatens to..." she cut off glancing down at Alice. "and kill me. He says, 'Cry for help but no one will save you not even that Simon fella. Everyone knows that Simon guy is a joke. He'll probably sit back and watch. What a coward.' At this point I'm beyond mad at him even implying I'm lower than trash. I'm about to wipe the floor with this dude."

"What happened after that?"

"What happened? Simon comes up behind the guy and taps him on the shoulder. The other guy grins whirling around about to punch him when Simon catches his fist and bends it in such a way that he breaks the guy's arm and then punches him across the face. Most people were surprised he actually confronted the guy but I was more surprised he actually punched the guy. Needless to say after that he made me second in command."

Markus hated to admit it but for all the times he had trashtalked Simon the way he defended North was downright admirable.

"Well enough about me. What about you? What's your history with Simon?" North asked. "I heard you two were quite chummy."

Markus glanced at her in surprise. It didn't sound confrontational, more along the lines of amused.

He rolled his eyes.

"Don't start."

North smiled slyly.

"Why? Solomon seems to think you two have unshatterable chemistry."

"I don't see how. The man is a relentless flirt who has no concept of personal space. I think he gets turned on by how cryptic he thinks he is when he's as obvious as a fine toothed comb."

"Huh, I would have thought you two were good friends otherwise. I mean you two have surprisingly civil conversation for someone who claims that's it's anything but..."

"I don't know. He just irritates me and I hate all this cryptic business. I just want someone to tell me how it is because I hate guessing games."

North chuckled.

"Me too."

"It's only really fun when I can grovel in victory after owning my opponents in a game of chess."

"A shame I would love to give you a run for your money but I'm horrible at chess."

"Really?"

"Yeah, shocking I know. Those kind of games just really hurt my brain trying to figure out the spaces where your opponent can move all for the sake of victory. I just get no satisfaction out of it. I'm just a girl who likes instant gratification if you know what I'm saying."

Markus chuckled.

End Notes: So this is the part where Markus' choices really come to play. Most of his routes are dependent on who he pursues and how he handles the relationships with whomever he pursues. A potential of six endings based off that.


	27. Chapter 27

Warning: Because I forgot to add this. Allusions to non-consensual behaviors but the only non-con thing in this chapter is a cross between dub-con and non-con kissing.

Chapter 27

After talking with Simon later in the evening, Kara and Luther left Alice in North's care.

"Alice, hold the fort while we're gone alright," Luther said.

"Let Simon know if you need anything," Kara added.

"Alright," she said with a smile.

The two headed out cautiously. Luther had long since changed his clothes changing into a black shirt and loose blue sweatpants. Kara on the other hand wore a black long sleeved hoodie with black sweatpants.

Simon insisted they bring his dog along. Kara was walking her on the leash.

Eventually they made their way to the dump in the back of the wasted city. Kara felt around her waist for the gun holster, her fingers brushing the gun.

Simon had given both Kara and Luther guns in case they ran into trouble. She also possessed the knife that Luther gave her in her pocket.

Walking inside the place, Kara and Luther saw there were piles of android parts that had been disassembled and scattered along the junkyard.

Together the two combed through the piles looking for android legs. Much of the androids had been disassembled. Arms had been in the pile without bodies, android abdomens with no head, legs or arms, and heads with no arms.

It was as they had been rummaging through the piles throwing aside these things when Luther had heard some commotion nearby.

"Kara," he called out.

He turned Kara didn't appear to hear him.

"Kara," he said again.

"What is it, Luther?"

"Do you hear that?"

Kara looked around in confusion.

"Hear what?"

"I think someone's nearby. Alot of people by the sound of it. We can't stick around here any longer."

"We haven't found the leg parts yet. Do you know where they're at?"

"At the rate we're going we're never gonna find them."

Suddenly Kara heard a clatter nearby. Carefully she walked behind one of the large piles and peeked over the side.

There were three guys dressed in dingy clothing gathered around a fire chatting amongst each other.

"So how's our man?" one of the guys asked.

"As well as can be expected. That'll teach anyone to talk back to us."

Luther was walking to where Kara was when he slipped on some scrap metal.

"What the-"

All three men turned to look in their direction.

"Who's there?"

Luther hissed. Tiny whined.

"Sh-t."

He turned just as he felt something hard hit his head knocking him out cold.

The next moment Luther came to it was to a feather light touch to the back of his skull.

He cried out in pain.

"Sorry about that. You experienced quite a blow to your head."

The soothing voice sounded very familiar.

"Kara..." he muttered softly.

"Take it easy. You were hit really hard."

Luther looked past her in confusion. Besides the piles of trash behind her there was no indication of where they were.

"What happened?"

"I don't know I was knocked out before I could see."

He moved to get up.

"Luther."

She attempted to push him back down. The moment he had got up though he had seen the man behind her.

"Who's that?"

"Listen before you get too hasty."

"He's the one who knocked us out didn't he?" Luther growled. He tried to get up but Kara pushed him back down.

"Relax Luther, he's not gonna hurt us. He's the one who rescued us."

Luther looked passed her shoulder.

"How do you know he isn't the one who's gonna kill us?" he hissed.

"To what purpose would that serve? You are of no use to me."

Luther snorted.

"Then why capture us?"

"Didn't you hear your little girlfriend? I wasn't trying to kill you. I was trying to save your lives."

"What do you mean?"

"I thought I was clear. You must be braindead."

"Do you really think it's a good idea to be testing my patience when you're already on thin ice."

"I ain't scared of you," the man said coolly. "I've already experienced far worse than anything you could ever do."

Luther glanced at him and noticed he was sitting down awkwardly leaning on the pile. He glanced carefully at where his legs were positioned. It looked highly unlikely that he could have knocked them out and dragged them here with legs that were both folded at odd angles. One of the legs stood straight from his body, the knee bending in a perfect horizonital line. His other leg mirrored this position making his legs form a flat square in front of him.

"What's your name?" Kara asked.

"Antony Deckart."

"What are you doing here and why were you here to begin with?"

"If I had a choice I wouldn't be here. "

Something about those words sounded haunted.

Luther looked at him again. His face was covered in dirt and soot. Antony's garb was wearing away like he'd been wearing it for a very long time.

"I suppose this is my punishment for not doing my job right."

"How long have you been here?"

"Don't know. Can't tell anymore. I heard commotion so I woke up to see what was going on. Noticed you, heard someone coming so I had to think fast."

"So you knocked us out." Luther grumbled.

"Yeah, they were intending to do something nasty to their hostage. I had to do something quick. There was a higher probability that knocking you out would have been a safer alternative to warning you directly."

"You're an android aren't you?" Luther asked. "Were you deviant? Is that why they sent you here?"

"No," he blurted out. "Don't you dare associate me with them. I'm not willing to fight humans for the sake of my own selfish interests. I was happy and willing to serve humans."

"Then why are you here?" Kara asked.

"I don't know. I don't quite remember. The job I was working at I was happy. Something bad happened and everything after that is just black. The next time I remember waking up I wake up to see you two."

"You mean you don't even know where we're at?" Luther asked.

"I don't see why that should matter."

"We thought you might have been here for a while," Kara supplied.

He glanced at them in both surprise and confusion.

"No," Antony said uncertain and repeated it again as if he had realized the conclusion of what he just said. "No I haven't."

"Then why rescue us?" he asked.

"Because it's my job and it's the only thing I'm good at."

Kara kneeled closer to him.

"Your legs aren't even attached properly."

"It's not like I have a scanner or anything. Most of my parts are busted and my feed is full of errors. It's not like I had anytime to find any spare parts. I just used anything I had at my disposal," Antony said with a smile. "That dog of yours led us away to a safe place so they shouldn't find you here."

"Thank you."

Luther spotted Tiny rested on his leg.

'Dumb dog,' he thought.

"Don't mention it," Antony said.

"Look why don't we return the favor since you helped us and everything."

"I don't need repayment. Believe me it was the least I could do."

"Then what will you do now? You don't even know where you are," Kara said.

"Well why don't you enlighten me then?"

"Ever heard of Jericho?" Luther asked.

"That's located in the outskirts of the city," Antony said. "This doesn't look like any place ideal to gather to discuss common interests if you get what I'm saying."

"No, this isn't Jericho," Kara said. "This is the dump in the outskirts of the city."

"Oh that makes sense. Guess whoever brought me here thought I would serve better as scrap metal."

"If you intend to stick around you should at least know what you're getting yourself into."

"Peachy."

"Look why don't you come with us. I'm sure Simon would allow you to stay until you get things squared away," Kara said.

"Simon takes in anyone ranging from high profile criminals to deviant androids. I couldn't live with myself if I joined a group that works on the wrong side of the law. Besides there's no point in delaying the inevitable. Even when you repair me what happens then? I can wait but the outcome is still the same. I'm on borrowed time. With no allies here, I don't stand a chance. You best leave me be."

Kara sighed in defeat.

Luther patted her on the shoulder. She turned and glanced at him. He was glancing back at her with a soft smile on his face.

"Kara, it's alright. At least you tried."

"So are you two heading back to Jericho?"

She wondered if she should provide the real reason she was down here or remain silent.

"Yes, eventually," Kara replied. "We still have something to do here."

"You two don't look like your criminals so why are you two out in this part of the city so late. It's not like you need a place to stay or anything."

Luther looked at her with a frown. He appeared to be worried.

Kara turned to glance at Antony.

"We ran into some trouble with Cyberlife and are being falsely accused of kidnapping a child. Her father asked us to take care of her while he was being pursued by them. They were after a piece of information provided by her mother."

Something seemed to flash past Antony's eyes as if he was remembering something truly horrifying. Kara got the impression that despite how unlikely it sounded he believed her story.

"After that happened, we fled to this part of the city. Simon said he'd help us get ahold of a reporter from the press so we've been doing errands in the meantime."

"Tell you what, how about I help," Antony said.

"Are you sure? It might be a little unsettling," Kara said.

"You scouting for human skeletons?"

Kara looked affronted.

"Of course not."

"Then there's nothing to worry about."

"We're looking for android parts. Specifically legs," Luther supplied.

"That'll take all day going through these dumps," Antony said. "If only I can replace some of my visual components and get my scanner to work I could speed up the process."

"If we could find it, you'd know it if you saw it right?" Kara asked.

"Yes, I still retain memories of the parts needed for my repairs."

With that Kara and Luther rummaged through the pile on the lookout for legs or for android heads with the visual components intact.

Eventually rummaging through three heads, Kara pulled out a head with two blue eyes.

"Is this what you're looking for?"

Kara showed Antony what she found.

"Looks like it. Only one way to find out."

He took the head from her and disassembled the back pulling out the circuitry that he needed.

"Can you remove the panel in back of my neck? I don't know where it's attached."

Kara felt around his neck for the corners of the panel and removed it.

"I removed it."

"Good."

Within minutes he replaced some parts at the back of his neck.

"So did it work?"

"Yeah," he said. Antony scanned Kara in front of him. "Looks like I can still access data through the network. Are you aware they have you marked as a suspect for kidnapping and assault against a civilian and a police officer?"

"We knew about the kidnapping but nothing on the assault."

"If anyone was doing the assaulting it was the police," Luther said.

Scanning through the piles, Antony quickly found a pair of legs that were compatible with his model.

"I think I found some legs."

Kara and Luther turned to see him point out the legs from the pile.

She climbed up the pile to pull them out but not before arms reached for her trying to pull her in.

"Kara!"

Luther lunged for her quickly scrambling to pull her out.

"Let go."

He pulled on her arm until it released her arm causing her to be fall backwards in Luther's arms.

She relaxed in his grip as he carefully gathered them to their feet. Kara managed to retain the grip on the legs handing them over to Antony.

"These will do sufficiently."

He removed the incompatible legs from his abdomen replacing them with the new ones.

"You said you were looking for legs right. These should be more than sufficient right?"

Luther glanced at the legs carefully. Neither of them were dented in any way.

He nodded in Kara's direction.

"These will do just fine."

Luther picked up the legs.

Kara and Luther were just about to thank him and head back to Jericho when a voice cried out in the distance.

"Help."

The sound of sputtering cut off the pleas for help.

"Someone please help."

"Quiet you. What do you think will happen if people hear you? You think they'll rescue you. Ha, they'd die before they even reached you."

"Luther we gotta do something," Kara said.

"There's nothing we can do. It's suicide. Do you really wanna risk your life for just one person?"

"Antony," she called out to the android.

Luther grabbed her shoulder.

"Kara, what are you doing?"

"We're not leaving him to die. I refuse. You can forget about trying to convince me otherwise," she said in determination.

"What is it?" Antony asked.

"We need your help."

"What do you need me to do?"

"Do you know how many guys are guarding that guy?" Kara asked glancing behind a pile of android parts.

Antony scanned the perimeter.

"Three by the looks of it. What did you have in mind?"

"Can you create a diversion to distract them?" Kara asked.

"Yes, but you won't have alot of time to work with."

"How long would we have?"

"Five minutes at most and that's if the diversion works."

"I could work with that."

Thinking about her next course of action, Kara contemplated letting Antony orchestrate the diversion himself or _**asking Luther to help him**_.

"So what's the plan?" Luther asked.

"You help Antony distract them and I'll take care of everything else."

"Out of the question," he snapped. "There's no guarantee your plan will even work and you'll be by yourself practically defenseless. You don't even know if the guy we're rescuing is friendly."

"Hey," she cut in with a smile. "Have a little trust."

Luther simply sighed.

"Alright. We'll do things your way but if things turn sour I want you to get away from here."

Kara hummed in reply.

"Be careful," he said before pulling Kara into a hug.

"I will," she said reciprocating his embrace.

He pulled away reluctantly before bringing Tiny along.

Once they were gone, Kara carefully walked closer to where the men were. One of the men broke off to walk some ways away. She crept closer eager to get a clear look. The man looked to have walked away perhaps to get the tools needed to finish their job.

Suddenly a noise broke out from the left.

"Hey Paul, did you hear that?"

"Looks like someone's here," he said.

"Guess you'd like some company. Wouldn't want you to get ambushed."

"Not funny."

Once they had left, Kara crept closer immediately spotting the man.

He was about to cry out when Kara brought a finger to her lips.

"Shhh, it's alright. I'm here to rescue you."

"Who are you?"

Kara held his hands attempting to pull him out from where he was buried.

"You don't need to know that right now. I need to get you out of here before those guys return."

It was proving to be quite a chore just to pull him out.

"You shouldn't be here. Those guys will come back any second."

"Let me worry about that."

The man's eyes widened, something akin to horror present on his face.

Suddenly Kara felt something cold and hard brushing the back of her neck.

"Not a good idea, sweetie."

Kara stood stark still. Her heart was racing erratically.

"Hands up where I can see them."

She slowly raised her hands.

"What are you going to do to me?"

"Think you can entertain me?"

"I don't know. Depends what you have in mind," she said trying to quell any nervousness from her voice.

"Turn around."

Slowly she turned.

Suddenly Kara took out the knife which she had rolled up her sleeve and pushed the hand that held the gun to the side.

He lunged at her grabbing her arm.

Her other hand pulled up ready to shove him away.

His hand had jarred her wrist at the moment causing her to cry out in pain

She cried releasing the knife from her hold.

He slapped her across the face before she could so much as react.

Blood dripped from her split lip and her nose ached. She glared at him defiantly. The man was thin with light skin. He housed blue eyes, short brown hair and was clean shaved. His appearance was highly attractive save for his clothing which looked like rags giving off the impression he had been residing here for months despite the fact he had no beard.

"I knew you were trying to run. Fortunately I won't make that same mistake twice."

Kara licked her upper lip where the blood from her nose was threatening to spill to her bottom lip.

"Pity, would have loved to see that stupid look on your face when I kicked your ass."

The man leaned over his lips nearly touching hers.

"How feisty. I have to give you props it's an effective way of concealing the truth but your body can't lie."

Kara's face dropped as the man licked over his lips staring at her hungrily.

"How long will it take before I break you?"

His arms reach out to unzip her hoodie.

"Hey Nick, look who we found."

The man frowned before looking up with an ugly sneer on his face.

Kara's hand vanished behind her back.

"Kara," a familiar voice uttered softly.

It sounded pained.

Nick grinned.

She jostled an object out of her pocket causing it to land with a thump behind her.

"Guess she had company," he said.

"What do you suggest we do with them?" Paul asked.

"Kill them but spare the girl," Nick suggested.

Kara's face turned stonelike.

"Why? What do you have to gain from doing that?" she asked.

"Can't have the princess being rescued from her captors," Nick said before his lips curled in a malicious grin. "That big black burly guy, your boyfriend?"

The corners of Kara's lips curled up in a sly smile. Her feet moving across the dirt carefully kicking the object behind her.

"I hope you're not jealous," Kara said coyly. "I hate possessive guys."

"Maybe after they die we can take turns with you if you get what I'm sayin'," Paul said.

The man with him nodded in agreement.

Kara frowned momentarily before her smirk returned with renewed passion.

"Are you sure 'Nick' would let you?"

"Nick's our friend. He wouldn't mind sharing his girl would he?"

"Then why kill them unless you thought they were a threat to our relationship," she added in a sultry voice winking saucily. "There's more than enough of me to go around, you know. Those boys aren't even a threat to you."

Nick snorted.

"Even I'm not so foolish as to believe that."

"I can see why you thought so," she said, her lips cringing. "I should have been honest from the start. I could see it's really bothering you."

Nick looked at her with a raised brow.

"Truth is I've been traveling with my ex. That's why he's so concerned. He was never able to let go of the feelings that he had for me. It's sad but true."

She frowned.

"See I was dating this other guy and he got really possessive and you know how I don't like the possessive types. Long story short he killed my boyfriend and I thought he might try to kill me too so I ditched him."

Luther snorted.

Nick's lips curled in distaste.

"You don't really expect me to-"

"If he dies, he is going to haunt me in my sleep. You don't understand I get nightmares. I'd just rather not have eyes on us even if they belong to a corpse. It's scary."

Nick rolled his eyes.

"Tie them up."

He leaned closer to her ear.

"You better be telling the truth because you're walking on thin ice darling."

Kara heard the scuffling of feet behind her.

"Hurry up," the other man said.

Nick chuckled nastily grabbing the front of Kara's hoodie pulling her close and forcibly kissing her on the lips.

Kara returned the kiss enthusiastically engaging in the kiss more, grabbing his jacket and smoothing it out.

Her ears were alert catching the sounds of a jostling gun. Nick tried to pull away but she pulled him closer.

The sound of two pained moans reached her ears but she already had what she wanted.

Kara pulled away bringing the gun in front of her.

"Move a muscle and I'll blow your head off," she said coolly.

"You wouldn't do that," he said smugly.

"Try me."

She fired a bullet from the gun that missed him from mere inches.

"The next one is in your chest if you so much as move an inch."

"Kara, are you alright?" Luther asked. She saw he was bleeding out of the corner of his mouth.

"Yeah," Kara said with relief. "Might want to do something about him or he might find his head full of lead."

Luther walked towards him.

"I see you are as much of a liar as you are a seductress. He is your boyfriend."

Kara rolled her eyes narrowing her eyes at Luther.

"Oh really," she said slyly. "What kind of boyfriend rats their girlfriend out?"

"I was worried."

"I was fine. You were the one who got captured."

Luther frowned.

"So did you."

"At least I didn't give you away. I thought we really had something," she added coyly winking at him.

"Kara..."

"I'm hurt," she pouted, a smile in her eyes.

Luther knocked Nick out with the butt of his gun.

"Look Kara, it just slipped."

"I forgive you."

"Do you?"

"Yes."

He inched closer to her wiping the blood off the corner of her lips.

"Are you just saying that?"

"Maybe."

"Let's get out of here."

Kara picked up the knife that Nick had jostled out of her hand.

"Not so fast. You forgot someone."

Both Antony and Luther helped her pull the man out of the hole that he was partially buried in.

"Are you alright?" he asked glancing at Kara.

Kara looked at him in confusion.

"Are you talking about me?" she asked pointing to herself.

He nodded.

"Don't worry about me. I'm fine."

"Yeah, you looked like you were really enjoying yourself," Luther said.

"I stand by what I said earlier about possessive boyfriends. That wasn't a lie."

"Will you two be able to handle him on your own?" Antony asked.

Luther helped support the man over his shoulders. Kara helped him out.

"We should be fine."

"I'd feel better if I could walk you two back."

"Thanks."

Antony gathered the legs and together all four headed out.

Only then did Kara decide to ask Luther what was on her mind.

"So what happened while 'I was enjoying myself' as you so helpfully put it?" she asked glancing at Luther and smiling coyly.

"I was being the man with the plan."

"What was the plan?" she asked cheekily.

"It's a secret. I don't want you to judging. It was impulsive and spur of the moment," he replied in a sassy manner.

Kara thought back on how she had kicked the gun in what she thought was Luther's direction. The darkness obscured the ground and no one could really see what was on the ground so it had been a perfect opportunity to save her skin. She had been gambling that maybe Antony would scan it and identify it as a weapon. Perhaps Antony had told him about the gun.

"Really?" she inquired in disbelief, a part of her sounded amazed maybe even a little impressed.

"Well honestly, I was just waiting for the opportunity to punch the guy's lights out and he dropped his guard. He punched me across the face and I just wanted to get even."

"Sounded alot more impressive in my head," Kara said.

"You're judging me."

"I thought Antony might have told you about the gun on the ground."

"Oh that's what you were kicking behind you? That actually makes sense."

"You forgot I had a gun?"

Luther chuckled sheepishly.

"I guess it slipped my mind but hey it worked out in the end didn't it. Me and Antony must have had the same idea because he knocks out the other guy before i even get the chance."

"So where did you get the gun then?"

"I saw it on the ground when they were dragging us away and I shuffled it between my feet. I just assumed you got him to foolishly drop it."

"You think he would have done that? He seems too smart to do something that foolish."

"You enticed him with a lie you pulled out of your ass."

"Hey, it worked didn't it."

"That was rather clever."

"You owe me, big time. Remember you're the one who ratted me out."

"Fair."


	28. Chapter 28

A/N: Have an extra long chapter. The inspiration took hold of me and I wrote this gem.

Chapter 28

The next evening after being in the hospital for three days, Connor was finally released much to his relief. His bullet wound was patched up and nearly healed. Hank was patiently sitting in the waiting room looking at an open newspaper.

"Hey," he called to Hank.

Hank turned to glance at Connor with a crooked smile on his face.

"Guess they finally released you huh?"

"For the record, NEVER take me back there again."

"That bad huh?"

"I'll never hear the end of it."

Connor followed Hank to his car. Concern wrinkled his brows.

"Anderson?"

Hank turned to glance at him.

"Captain Fowler just sent us a report about a stakeout."

"Already?" he asked.

Hank snorted.

"I'm an android remember."

Connor laughed sheepishly.

"Listen if you're not feeling up to it I could just tell Fowler to give the case to someone else."

"No," Connor blurted out.

Hank gazed at him with a raised brow.

"I mean I'm fully capable of doing it." Connor said.

Hank glanced at him in disbelief. He seemed quite insistent on following through with whatever Fowler had assigned to them.

"Are you sure?"

"Definitely."

It's a few blocks away from the Chicken Feed," Hank said. "Are you sure you're up for it?"

"Anderson, you're not going to change my mind about it, you know."

"I thought I'd try," he said before looking away.

Connor saw the corners of his lips twitch as if he was trying hard not to smile.

The two drove until they reached an apartment complex. Connor noticed another police car was also parked in front.

"Guess someone else already arrived before us," he pointed out.

Once the two headed inside Hank lead him to the elevator.

"What floor is it supposed to be on?" Connor asked.

"The second floor."

Hank pushed the button to the second floor on the elevator.

Connor glanced at his hips.

'That's right. Hank can't possess a gun can he?' he thought.

"Are you gonna be alright without a gun?" Connor asked.

Hank turned towards him.

"So you noticed."

"Why wouldn't I? You're my partner aren't you?"

Hank chuckled mirthlessly pulling the gun out from his coat.

"Don't worry I got you covered."

"Isn't that illegal to carry a firearm?"

"Cute. Are you gonna snitch on me? Theoretically it is registered under my name."

"No, I won't snitch on you unless you give me a reason to."

The elevator opened. Connor and Hank stepped outside onto green and beige checkered floors. Towards the left was an exit to the roof as well as three other rooms while the right lead to a window.

Immediately something seemed off. Blue footprints stained the floor.

"Looks like there's trouble," Connor said, worry laced his voice. "So what do we know about the suspect?"

"That's the weird part. The suspect, Rupert Travis has no criminal record to speak of but that's not the only thing."

"You sound disturbed," he said.

"Not too long ago, you were looking up names in the military database. He's-"

"Also a prior member of the military," Connor cut in. "He was in my squad."

Hank followed the footsteps up to a room towards the window on the right side. The door was wide open and the footprints were a darker blue as if the blood was closer than ever.

"Anderson, did you find anything?" Connor asked.

Hank was silent giving him the impression something was off.

Quickly Connor ran to catch up with him. Inside was more blood however no one appeared to be there.

Connor made a move to step inside when Hank's arm stopped him. Hank took out the gun from his jacket holding it out in front of him.

"Stay behind me."

"Got it," Connor said.

He followed behind Hank at a close distance. Inside the apartment complex was a long hall with one room on each side. A door stood at the very back of the hall.

Both peeked in the rooms on the sides. On Connor's side, he saw there was only a bed pried up against the wall and a small closet to the left that looked undisturbed.

"Find anything?"

"Nothing of interest," Hank replied.

The two met back in the hall standing out the door in the back.

Cautiously Hank opened it.

No one could have predicted that sight that would greet them. A police officer was on the floor. Blue blood pooling beneath them.

"Holy Sh-t," Hank hissed.

Courageously Connor knelt down and turned the body over. Hank recoiled in horror at the sight of seeing Officer Wilson with a bullet through his head.

"What the-What kind of person would do this? What the h-ll?"

"Whoever did it must still be here or at least they did not go that far."

"What makes you say that?"

"Thirium fades after an hour right?"

"Yeah."

"Yet a trail of blue blood is still here. If the suspect tried to escape the blood would be all over their shoes judging by the footprints in the hall."

"Right."

"I'm going to follow the trail of footprints. See if you can find any information on the suspect," Connor said.

"Will do," Hank replied.

Once Connor was gone, Hank set to work. To the left of Wilson's corpse was a small kitchen with a fridge, a stove, a counter and a couple of cupboards.

Hank walked closer scanning the counters, the fridge and the cupboards. The counters were clean, theshelves were full of MREs while the fridge was surprisingly empty save for a couple articles of food.

MREs according to the data he had collected through the internet had a long shelf life of approximately ten years. It appeared Rupert or whoever lived here had no intention of going outside of this apartment if they didn't have to.

On the right wall was a painted picture of a garden hung neatly beside a small table. There were cracks above where it was hung however upon further scans.

Curious Hank removed the picture from the wall revealing a small hole. Inside was a small black journal.

Carefully he scanned the pages.

"It's been a week since I've come back but something feels wrong. I think someone might be following me."

The more he read the more disturbing it sounded.

"I caught them today. An android in black was tailing me. I managed to disable it before it could do anything. I'll interrogate it when it wakes up, even if it tries to lie I know how to alter it's program to force it to tell me the truth."

Hank read on to the next entry.

"I had suspected it but now I know it. Someone is trying to kill me. I called the police but they're not doing anything. They're trying to arrest me for making false reports. They call me delusional. I can't stay at my old place any longer. I'm thinking of leaving but I'll have to pack extra supplies. I'm uneasy the longer I'm here at my old place with 'them' watching."

Hank closed the journal and put it in his jacket pocket before he returned to Wilson's body.

He grit his teeth before scanning him.

"Registered: RK-800 model 313-966-417 under Detroit Police Department."

He scanned the damage.

"Bullet hole went clean through his head."

'Wait, he's an RK-800 which means he probably had a gun on him. All RK-800s are permitted to use guns. The question is where is it?'

Hank looked around finally spotting the gun next to the fridge. He scanned it.

"A .45 caliber registered to RK-800 model 313-966-417. Two bullets remaining."

It was mandatory for all registered guns to have a maximum of 3 bullets loaded in the gun.

'That means there's a missing bullet.'

Hank loaded up his preconstruction program.

A makeshift figure of Officer Wilson appeared to rise from the body. His right arm was outstretched in front of him with the gun in hand. Across from him was a figure.

Hank followed where Wilson had held out his gun and traced the trajectory to the wall. A bullet was above where the gun was found. It was however above the other makeshift figure was reconstructed.

'Wait, that means he fired at the suspect. The suspect must have shot him back.'

He followed the suspect's line of fire and found the bullet on the floor behind the corpse.

"Bullet identified as a 9mm round from a Glock G19."

Hank tried to connect the bullet with any guns that were registered under Rupert's name and found a match. At least it wasn't possessed illegally.

So what did this mean? Hank was just as puzzled as he was before. With a sigh, Hank left the room to catch up with Connor.

During that time, Connor had traced the footsteps to the left exit on the roof. The footsteps stopped near a dead end.

Maybe Rupert or whoever this person was hopped to the other roof. Even if it looked like a stretch, Connor wondered if it wasn't possible.

He peeked over the roof out of curiosity and saw Rupert. Rupert seemed to realise that Connor had spotted him. Panic appeared in his eyes and he was about to release his grip off the roof when Connor managed to grip his hand.

"No! Wait, hear me out," Connor said.

"No, you're with the police. I don't trust you. You'll think I'm delusional."

"No, I won't. I just want to know what happened. Talk to me."

Rupert was silent and looked down as if determining whether or not suicide was still an option.

"Please," Connor pleaded.

"Alright."

Connor pulled him up back on the roof.

"So what happened?" he asked.

Rupert looked at him with squinted eyes.

"Wait, I know you from somewhere. Your last name is Bourne right?"

"Yeah."

"Major Bourne? I didn't expect to see you again. You're a sight for sore eyes."

Connor nodded in agreement.

"It's been a while. Imagine my surprise when I see you about to jump off the building."

Rupert sighed.

"I'll tell you everything I know."

"Alright."

"You remember how they sent us back to our homes after the war."

Connor nodded.

"Everything was fine for the first two weeks. That was when I sensed I was being followed."

"Followed?"

"Yeah, I eventually discovered I was being tailed by androids. One of them tried to kill me so I called the police but they never did anything about it."

"Why?"

"I don't know but after that it got worse. I knew I couldn't rely on the police. In fact I was beginning to suspect that they knew but were going out of their way to do nothing about it so I hid. Someone must have spotted me because next thing I know two police officers are at my door trying to kill me."

Suddenly a bullet whizzed past Connor barely missing Rupert. Rupert turned on his heel and ran.

Connor turned and saw a female police officer with a gun held in front of her.

"Officer Chen?"

He glanced at her with wide eyes. The gun didn't move from where Tina had held the gun in front of her.

She smiled.

"Hey lieutenant. Fancy seeing you here."

"What are you doing?!"

"What were you doing?" she asked coolly.

"My job. What do you think I was doing?" Connor asked.

"Are you just going to let the suspect get away? He killed Officer Wilson. I saw it with my own eyes," she added hotly.

"Why were you both here in the first place? What was the suspect guilty of?" Connor asked.

"Why does that matter? He just killed my partner."

"It matters," he said coolly." If you have no probable cause to trespass on private property you are conducting illegal search and seizure which is punishable by law."

"There was probable cause," she mumbled.

Connor narrowed his eyes.

"Then what did 'he' do?"

"Are you siding with him?"

"I'm not taking anyone's side."

"Yet it sounds to me like you don't even believe your fellow officer," Tina said cheekily.

"I believe evidence and you haven't provided any. So tell me why were you two here?"

Tina chuckled mirthlessly.

"How heartless can you be?"

"You two came here because you were trying to kill him weren't you?"

Tina moved the gun towards him.

He could lunge for the gun and kill her. It would be justified self-defense. Then again he could also avoid killing her. In the end though he spared her.

Connor ran towards her ramming into her. The gun fell out of her hands.

She grabbed his shoulders ramming her knee into his chest.

Connor grunted from the impact.

Tina swung her right fist at Connor who swiftly dodged it.

Connor tried to kick her but she swiftly caught his leg and pushed him off balance causing him to stumble near the edge of the roof.

It didn't stop her from kicking him in the chin knocking him off backwards. Instinctively he grabbed on the corner of the roof with his right hand. He seethed with the pain radiating from his right ankle.

In the distance he saw Hank step out of the room behind her just as she reached for the gun on the ground. In her haste, Tina had left the door open crediting Hank's silent entrance.

His eyes widened with horror upon seeing Connor cling to the edge of the roof for dear life.

Hank loaded up the statistics of Connor's survival. He could let Officer Chen know he was there but it also increased the odds of Connor's death. The odds of him surviving without his intervention however were less than 50 percent. He could rescue Connor from the roof but that was a death wish and Hank wouldn't do that to Cole no matter how much he liked Connor.

It was then he remembered some information Josh had given to him yesterday. Something about reprogramming androids.

Hank recalled them ordering thirium related drinks at Jimmy's bar.

'That's right. Tina is an android. It might just be a matter of altering her program.'

Tina reached for the gun on the ground in front of her and pointed it at Connor. Quickly Hank sprung into action.

Carefully Hank snuck up behind her grabbing her arms. The gun fired.

Tina attempted to ram backwards into Hank to loosen his grip but he retained his grip on her arms.

Hank finally decided just to remove them from her body.

"You removed my arms," Tina hissed.

Hank clasped her shoulders retrieving a pocket knife from his jacket.

"They were being annoying," Hank growled pulling her backwards until she was seated.

"You'd gang up on a helpless woman."

Hank lodged it in her right leg.

"You've proven that you're the exact opposite of helpless."

He opened the panel on the back of her neck and set off to reprogram her. Some minutes passed before he had finished finally resetting Tina's systems.

Hank carefully got up and helped Connor from the edge of the roof. He winced before glaring at Hank.

Hank saw him carefully move his leg.

'Is he hurt?'

He glanced at him with concern.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Connor bit out.

"What's wrong with your leg?"

"How long were you going to leave me dangling from there? I could have fell," Connor snapped.

"Don't be so dramatic. I didn't forget about you."

He snorted.

"What was I supposed to think. I didn't see you attempt to rescue me."

Hank sighed looking away.

"I had my reasons."

"It's our job to look after each other. Not to leave me hanging from the roof."

"I saved your life. You should be thankful. She would have shot you if it weren't for me."

"It would have been good riddance. Maybe it would make you appreciate me more."

Hank stared off with a distant, yet oddly sad look on his face.

"Maybe," he said with wonder. "If I could make it genuine."

Hank turned to Tina who's eyes fluttered open.

"Hank?"

"Officer Chen."

She glanced from Hank to Connor.

"What is going on?"

"You nearly shot Lieutenant Bourne in attempts to comply with your programming."

Tina's eyes widened.

"What?! Why would I do that?"

Just as she had said it, the thought dawned on her.

"Oh."

"What is it?" Connor asked.

Hank collected Tina's arms and began to put her back together.

"Sorry about your leg, Tina," Hank said.

"I was given orders to stop by Mr Travis' home and to arrest him so Captain Fowler could deliver him to Cyberlife. We were to bring him either dead or alive," Tina spoke.

"Why?" Connor asked.

"That's just it I don't know. Most of the things I did none of it seems logical. I was programmed to act a certain way and carry on underground activities for Cyberlife."

"It's not your fault," Hank said. "Cyberlife programmed you with those operatives."

"How many of us have them though?" Tina inquired pensively. "Officer Wilson also was an android programmed by Cyberlife. If only we hadn't been acting on their orders he might still be alive."

"Judging by what Rupert told me, it's likely everyone in the DPD is acting on Cyberlife's orders," Connor said.

Hank removed the knife from Tina's leg and helped her to her feet.

"We ought to see about getting your leg repaired," he suggested.

"Alright."

Tina frowned glancing at Connor apologetically.

"I'm really sorry about attacking you, lieutenant," she said.

"So what will you do now?" Connor asked. "If others are working for Cyberlife and they find out about you it's highly likely you'll be scrapped."

"That's if they find out. I didn't become a police officer to turn tail when things get rough," she said. "I'm eager to find out why Cyberlife reprogrammed RK-800s to do their bidding. If that means sticking around to find answers then that's what I'm going to do."

Connor got to his feet, pain scrunching his face. He attempted to walk towards the door.

Nearly reaching the door he fell forward.

Hank turned spotting Connor on the ground and he frowned.

"Connor!"

"Don't," he hissed coolly.

'Why is he being so stubborn?'

Hank gritted his teeth torn between helping Connor or helping Tina.

Tina pulled away.

"I'm fine. I've had worse," she said.

With a sigh, Hank knelt down.

"What happened?"

"I just twisted my ankle nothing major."

"Sh-t," he hissed before seeming to come up with an idea.

Hank moved closer.

"What are you doing?"

He carried Connor in his arms.

"Oh my."

Connor's face turned red.

"Put me down this instant."

"No can do. This is much easier than dragging you to the car."

"You're doing this just to spite me aren't you?"

Hank rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, let's go with that."

The three headed back through the apartment. Tina taking it easy on her leg.

"We should get Wilson out of here. He doesn't deserve to be left in a place like this," Connor said.

"I'll get him," Tina said dragging his body by the legs.

Eventually she followed Hank and Connor to their car. Carefully Hank set Connor on the passenger's side of the car. Tina put Wilson's body in the backseat before taking the back seat.

Hank claimed his seat on the driver's side.

He started up the car and they drove off. Connor noticed immediately when they passed by the police station.

"Where are we going, Anderson?"

"Heading home. Cole should arrive soon. He should be able to recover the right parts to repair Officer Chen."

'That won't be awkward.' Connor thought.

As Hank parked outside his home, he got out of the car and walked over to Connor's side.

"Need help?"

"That won't be necessary," Connor bit out. Carefully he got to his feet taking it easy on his right foot.

Hank decided to help Tina out of the backseat.

He scanned the panel outside his door before all three went inside.

Sumo walked up to Connor who eagerly petted him.

"Cute dog," Tina said.

She looked around.

"Nice place you got here," she said.

Hank helped her to the couch.

"Make yourselves at home," he said.

Connor followed Tina to the couch.

"I always thought Anderson was married but you could tell this place is lacking a woman's touch."

"How can you tell?" Connor asked.

"The place would be more lively. A woman loves to customize parts of the house. You might even say the place would be more cluttered with our things."

"I see."

Looking around the living room only had a tv with a small black shelf below and a bookshelf fulls of books. Most of them had no titles.

Connor recognized the scent of fresh stir-fried onion wafting in the air.

"What are you making?" he called out to Hank in the kitchen.

"Don't worry I'm not going to poison you. I'm making Cole's meal separately," Hank said.

After a while, Hank had finished with the meal.

"It's finished," he said before handing Connor his plate.

It was a stirfry. Connor glanced at it in satisfaction.

"Just in case you were feeling vegan," Hank said cheekily.

Tina picked up a piece of broccoli off the plate and slipped it in her mouth.

"Hey hands off. No stealing my food," Connor said.

She chuckled.

"It's just a small sample."

Connor rolled his eyes, his gaze drifting to the bookshelf.

"Even with all the latest programs you weren't programmed to taste it. Not even deviancy negates that."

"Do you think that's gonna stop me? We're programmed with the ability to sample anything we can get our hands on. I'm not going to stop just because Cyberlife wasn't smart enough to realise that would mean everything but the kitchen sink."

She placed the broccoli in her mouth.

"Green Broccoli, 25 percent edible, pathetically low calorie content, all fats are horribly absent, kids dislike it. The cooking makes it 25 percent more edible than in it's raw form. In conclusion that means it's more than likely terrible," Tina said.

Connor rolled his eyes as he continued to chow down on the food.

"Only kidding. I never thought you were a health nut though. Stiff and uptight, yes, a health nut and sassy, no."

Tina turned to Hank

"In all honesty though this looks really good," she said.

"You can't even taste it," Connor retorted.

"I don't have to. That's what the internet is for. All you do is research the kinds of foods humans enjoy. Humans tend to shy away from green vegetables and food lacking a high sugar and salt rate. The cooking is exquisite. I can measure the spice in every dish and calculating the combination of spices it's highly likely that the amount of pepper put in the dish would be a favorable amount for the average population of humans."

"Thanks I guess," Hank replied, his focus entirely present on cooking the meal.

"You never told me you were a good cook or I would have thrown a party at your house."

"He don't always cook that good. Don't catch him when Cole's there or you'll have to endure his painful ramen recipe," Connor said.

"We're not talking about that," Hank said.

"What's this ramen recipe that I'm hearing about?"

"It's nothing," He said shortly.

"It can't be nothing with the way the lieutenant was hyping it up. Come on it can't be as bad as my cooking. Reed couldn't even handle it when we were dating."

Hank tensed.

"What did you make? It couldn't have been that bad," Connor said. "Reed must have been very critical."

Hank snorted.

"You don't need to sugar coat it. Critical isn't the word for it. He's a jerk plain and simple," he said.

Tina frowned looking pensive.

"He wasn't always like that."

"Really I couldn't tell," Hank said.

"What did he describe your food."

"He said it was bland tasting and expressed preferences for something with more meat in it."

Connor snorted.

"You don't think he was asking for meat to compensate for his lack of dick," Hank asked.

"He was once a nice guy really," Tina said. "I mean he really liked my cats."

"If he loves animals, he must be good. Tina, I hate to break it to you but just because a man likes animals doesn't mean that he's good boyfriend material," Hank said. "He could have a ton of good qualities and that still wouldn't redeem him."

"Then what about-" Connor asked before cutting himself off, covering his mouth before he said something stupid. What was he just about to blurt out of his mouth? 'What about me?' Just because Cole seemed to think Hank was interested in him didn't mean that he was interested. Still the way their friendship developed, Connor was certain Hank had only warmed up to him upon seeing how he reacted to his dog.

'Still why can't I stop thinking about that?'

Connor hoped no one saw the red splotches on his upper cheeks.

'I shouldn't be thinking about him that way. The last time we saw each other he was more than twice my age.'

"What about what?" Hank asked curiously.

"Nothing," Connor replied briefly.

"You've been awfully quiet," he said. "Why don't you speak up? I can see why Reed walks all over you. You have no spine."

'How in the world can Cole think his android is infatuated with me?'

"Oh I didn't see you picking any fights," Connor said coolly. "I believe you were the one intending to leave me dangling from the roof."

"Awfully sorry you drama queen but in case it escaped your notice, someone had to save you from getting shot," Hank said icily.

"I could have saved myself. I didn't need your help."

"It didn't look that way from where I was standing."

"Stop it you two. We didn't come here to fight," Tina snapped.

"Sorry," Connor said glaring at Hank from over his shoulder.

Hank returned the glare with a cool stare.

"Sorry."

Around 10 minutes had passed before Cole dropped in. He glanced at Connor and Tina who were seated on the couch before catching Hank in the kitchen.

"Hey dad," Cole called out.

While that was happened Tina approached Connor with what was on her mind.

"Y'know I've been thinking about the situation at the precinct and I think it may be in our best interests to exchange phone numbers," Tina told him.

"Good idea, I agree" Connor whispered quietly taking out his cellphone. "What's your number?

"It's 313-966-119. It's also my model number in case your wondering."

"Do you need my number as well?"

"You're the only one who'd call with a cellphone."

"Reed wouldn't?"

Tina frowned.

"Nah, he hasn't talked to me ever since we've broke up."

"Hey Cole, I finished your dinner. It's in the fridge."

"Lieutenant, you mentioned earlier about Hank fixing a ramen recipe if Cole was there. Hank's a robot though, even if they look similar Hank's not his father yet he calls him that. The reason why he does everything, it's because of Cole isn't it?

"Yeah," he said.

'Unfortunately.' His mind supplied. Something about that bugged him but he couldn't put his finger on why.

"What's with the android?" Cole asked cutting through his thoughts.

"She's in a state of disrepair. I figured since you work on androids you wouldn't mind if I asked you for favor."

"What's the issue with her?" Cole asked as they stopped in the living room. He sat in front of Tina.

Hank followed him in the living room. Carefully Cole assessed her leg.

"Looks like a quick fix. I'll call Cyberlife and see about getting some parts to repair her leg."

The corners of Hank's lips curled into a smile as he glanced at Cole. Luckily Cole hadn't seen it but Connor did.

'He looks happy.'

It surprised him because even if he had seen Hank smile it never carried genuine happiness with it. The smile seemed plastered on his face but the way his cheeks lifted and the way his eyes crinkled, Connor could tell he really loved Cole.

The expression was only there for a brief moment almost as if Hank was stifling it. He looked like he had so much he wanted to say but all that left his lips was one word.

"Yeah," he said.

It was a truly Hank response. When he was alive, Hank rarely said 'thank you' for all the kindness Connor had showed him. Everytime Hank had said it, Connor hated every moment of it. After being treated coolly, he really wanted to hate the man but any kind of genuine acts from the old man made him believe that maybe Hank liked him and it made him angry.

No matter how much kindness he dished out in quest for his approval, Hank made him feel horrible. Yet every time he had wanted to leave, all Hank had to do was show him any sign of approval. Hank was right, he was truly spineless.

Still it didn't mean Hank was faultless. He was looking for approval just as much as Connor was.

Some thirty minutes later, someone knocked on the door. Hank answered it.

"Liz?"

"Cole mentioned he needed some spare parts so they asked me to drop by and deliver them."

Cole joined him taking the bundle from Liz's hands.

Hank was about to speak but nothing left his mouth.

Connor noticed his silence.

'Strange, how does he know her?'

Hank rejoined them as Cole began to repair her.

Occasionally Cole would glare at Connor periodically.

Connor couldn't make heads or tails from it.

"Good as new," Tina marveled as Cole finished the final touches. "You're really good at this."

Cole smiled.

"It's my job."

Tina stood up.

"Well thanks, I really appreciate it."

"You're welcome to come back any time. I'm sure dad wouldn't mind you dropping by every once and a while."

"I'll keep that in mind. I ought to be heading out. It's late. Listen Hank, Connor, I'll see you both tomorrow at work," Tina said before heading out.

"Be careful, alright," Hank said.

"Will do."

"Listen Cole, I'm going to go change. Think you could entertain our guest in the meantime."

"Sure," he said.

Once Cole was certain his father was gone, he spoke glaring at Connor.

"What did you do?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb."

"I'm not. I thought you'd be happy. You were so worried that we got along so well."

Cole snorted.

"That's not what I mean. He's upset. You did something."

"I don't see why it's your concern. He's just a robot you made to replace your dad. You're not really concerned about him."

"How dare you?"

"You think getting angry with me is going to change anything? If you're so concerned why don't you ask him yourself?"

Cole was silent.

Connor had a feeling though he knew what he would have said but Cole's pride was preventing him from saying it.

He probably tried asking him out of necessity, maybe curiousity. There may have been genuine love when he asked the android if he was alright. Connor knew though that Hank would never tell him anything not because he didn't want to.

From his research it would be in Hank's best interests to tell Cole about any emotional concerns no matter how personal they were. Better to be alive without emotional turmoil than to die from high stress levels caused from repressed emotions.

It was clear though no matter how much self preservation Hank possessed, making Cole believe an illusion was preferable than seeing him a shattered mess.

Maybe that was what bothered him. For all he was, maybe a part of him really didn't like to see Hank suffer like this.

He was so much more than a replacement for a dead man.

Hank came back just as Cole stood up. He had a first aid kit held under his arm.

"I'm heading to bed," Cole said glaring at Connor briefly before glancing at his father. "Get some shuteye alright."

"Will do."

Once Cole had headed to his bedroom, Hank spoke.

"So what was that about?" he asked sitting down and opening the first aid kit next to him.

"What?" Connor feigned stupidity.

Hank removed his shoes.

"What are you doing?" Connor asked.

"You sprained your ankle, didn't you?"

Connor snorted.

"That obvious huh?"

Hank glared at him.

"I'm trying to fix it up, smartass. So let me do my job and shut up about it."

With that Connor closed his mouth where it had opened agape with surprise.

As Hank carefully bandaged his foot, Connor winced.

"So are you ever going to tell me about your little feud?"

"Feud?"

Hank tightened the bandage causing Connor to wince.

"You couldn't have missed the way he was glaring at you."

"Who?"

"Don't play dumb. Cole, who else?"

"It's nothing. Sometimes we just don't see eye to eye."

"You weren't trash talking him were you?"

"No, he was just worried about you."

"There's nothing to be worried about. I'm fine."

"Clearly not. You seemed to have alot on your mind. I guess Cole didn't want to program a censor to filter your thoughts."

Hank's eyes hardened.

"You're upset."

"For someone who had the nerve to call me spineless, do you really think you got room to talk."

Hank sighed.

"I assessed the probability of your survival. The RK-800 can simulate probable scenarios based on the situations surrounding them. You didn't have a high possibility of surviving."

"So you weren't even going to try to save me. You were just intending to leave me to die?"

"Of course not," Hank snapped. "No matter how tempting the prospect is sometimes, I would never do that."

Connor glared at him unimpressed.

Hank sighed.

"Intervening in any shape or form had lower odds of your survival. Out of the outcomes 75 percent chance of survival is still better than 50 percent. Reprogramming that android was the only outcome that would end in us both surviving. If I had saved you, I would have died trying to save your skin."

"It would have been better than-"

"Than what? Leaving you?" Hank asked.

"Yeah, all you seem to care about is saving your own skin. How do I know that you aren't trying to kill me to?"

"What are you even saying? You're acting like you're scared of me."

"Don't I have the right to be? With all this talk about rogue androids I was scared. Scared that you might have-"

"Killed you? A probability of 75 percent still leaves room for error. Do you really think I was looking out for my own survival? I never said that you had a 25 percent possibility of death," Hank said. "I never mentioned your name at all. Intervening in any capacity with you may have lowered my odds of survival true but it also raised the possibility of you dying."

"Likely story."

"What kind of person do you take me for?"

Bitterly Connor wondered if he should dwell on his anger or _**just stop and think**_.

It probably was better not to take out any personal attacks on him. He was an adult, he could think logically.

Why was Hank saying this?

'He's not a person, he's an android. Yet he sounds sad.'

In the past, Hank had trust. He looked relieved when Connor had come to him for help.

"Surely you can understand where I'm coming from. You don't just leave a person hanging on the roof."

Hank sighed. He sounded defeated.

"I suppose," he said before heading to bed. "Get some sleep alright. We have a big day tomorrow."

Only when Hank was gone did Connor take out his cellphone from his pant pocket.

He called Tina.

"Lieutenant?"

"Hey Tina."

"What's up? I didn't expect you to call me so soon."

"Sorry."

"You don't need to apologise. I'm glad you called, you know. So why did you call anyway?"

"You're an RK-800 android right?" Connor asked.

"Yeah, how did you know that? Besides the blue blood I didn't think it was that obvious."

"RK-800s are the only androids who are legally allowed to carry a firearm. It wasn't a far-fetched assumption to make."

"I can see why you're the brightest officer at the precinct even if you don't have the social skills that comes with it."

"During the confrontation on the roof, Anderson said something strange. When he tried to rescue me from the roof he said that if he intervened that the odds of his survival would be low."

"That doesn't sound strange, I did have you at gun point. Given his character it is logical that he would have tried to step in to save you."

Somehow Connor doubted it after this had happened but he wouldn't question it.

"That's not the strange part." He said. "He said intervening would also raise the possibility of me dying. I want to know what you think."

Tina was silent for a moment.

"Putting our situation through a simulation. Every situation had high odds of you dying ranging from less than 5 percent to 65 percent. if Anderson had intervened at the roof to fight me at close range it would have been an 85 percent chance of him dying. If he dies, your possibility of survival is less than 5 percent. If he had rescued you from the roof, there is a 90 percent chance he'd be dead, a 15 percent chance of survival on the off chance that you could outspeed me. His method of approach where he approached me from the back in every scenario had a 25 percent chance of failure. Your odds of survival however are higher than 90 percent."

"What? How?" Connor asked.

"If everything failed, Anderson could have disarmed me at the cost of his own life giving you plenty of time to escape."

"He lied."

Still deep down Connor knew that wasn't true. Hank never said Connor had a 75 percent chance of survival with his intervention. He just said it was preferable to 50 percent.

It was becoming clear the real reason why Anderson hadn't picked scenarios that ended in his death because if he was dead, Connor would definitely be a goner.

In conclusion, Connor felt like an idiot.

Tina chuckled.

"I guess he wanted to spare you from any guilt you might have felt with his death."

'How could he possibly know that? There's no way he knows me that well. We don't even know each other for crying out loud.'

Yet the sting from earlier said otherwise. The thought of Hank, no not Hank, the android dying for his sake when he could do so much more with his life did upset him.

'Cole', even me, we're both holding him down. How I could I have been so useless? He's been looking out for me all this time and all I have to show for it is my ungrateful behavior.'

"Thanks Tina."

"Don't mention it, Lieutenant. Feel free to call me anytime alright?"

"Alright, bye."

With that Connor hung up his phone.

Carefully he got up and walked outside Hank's door knocking softly.

"Anderson, are you in there?"

No one responded.

"Hank, come out please. I need to talk."

With that, Hank opened the door a crack. He looked coolly at Connor.

"What is it?"

Connor opened his mouth to speak but no words came out.

"Have a good night, Hank."

"Yeah, if that's all I'm heading back to bed. I need to recharge."

Hank closed the door.

"Thanks..."Connor said.


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Early that same morning, Kara and Luther had returned to Simon's room with the parts.

"How did it go?" Simon asked. "I see you brought company."

He glanced past Kara and Luther to the man that Adam had brought in.

"Sorry, I know you don't really have accommodations," Kara said.

Simon gave a sullen smile.

"It's alright Kara."

"In other news, we got the parts."

"Good, follow me," he said before turning to the man. "Make yourself at home and if you need any help just talk to North or Lucy alright?"

The man nodded before Adam took him back.

Kara and Luther followed Simon who made his way to Markus' bedside.

North was cuddling up next to Markus looking quite comfy. Alice was nearby.

"Kara, you're back."

She ran up to Kara and embraced her.

"Were you a good girl?" she asked.

"Yeah, North was really nice to me."

Kara smiled.

"That's good."

She glanced at Simon who was staring coolly at North and Simon.

"Have you two seen Carl by any chance?" Simon asked.

Markus snorted.

"He's helping Josh polish his chess skills."

Simon walked away with Kara and Luther in tow.

Finally they caught Carl in the middle of playing a chess match with Josh.

"Carl, we found the parts."

"Good," he said before moving his rook. "Check."

Josh made a move with his king.

Carl moved his rook.

"That's checkmate."

"How?" Josh asked, baffled and irritated.

"It's a rather simple move. Sometimes the easier moves are made with the weakest pieces. You tend to overrely on your queen and bishops to make strong plays. When you should be saving those pieces for later."

Josh sighed cleaning up the pieces and the board off the crates they had set up.

Carl got up and examined the pieces in Kara and Luther's hands.

"You managed to snag some decent parts," he said. "Set them on the table and we'll see what I can do."

Kara and Luther set them on the table. Carl got straight to work disassembling them and re-calibrating the wires inside.

The two left him to his business leaving Simon and Carl with the parts.

Early the next morning, Carl finished looking at his handiwork.

"That should be good enough. We could adjust them later if they don't fit him anymore."

"Sounds good to me," Simon said.

The two headed back to Markus' bedside.

Carl noted how tense Simon's posture was as they were approaching Markus.

He didn't seem to be accompanied by his girlfriend when they arrived.

"So where did North go?" Carl asked curiously.

"I think she's still asleep in her room. She went to bed early yesterday."

Simon's shoulders relaxed.

"I see. I got good news," Carl said.

"That's relieving to hear," Markus said.

"We managed to procure you a pair of legs."

"How?"

Carl smiled.

"Let's just say your father was programmed with the knowledge to make prosthetic parts," he said.

Markus removed the covers and carefully maneuvered himself so that he was sitting with his both of his stumps hanging off the corner of the bed.

"When Leo said you and Elijah sabotaged that woman's business, what really happened? Did you two really kill her? Is that where you got all your money?"

Carl helped him put on the prosthetic legs. He glanced up at Markus.

"Where did that come from?"

"Leo said that woman's mother had been the previous CEO of Cyberlife. You knew exactly how to reconstruct an android's biocomponents. What am I supposed to think?"

"I didn't get the money from that. Before I worked at Cyberlife I got in an accident and was paralyzed from the waist down. I used to dabble in art at the time."

"You told me you never painted in your life," Markus said.

"To some extent that is true however despite what I said I am only a copy. Carl Manfred was a human. Carl Manfred died on November 10, 2023 at the age of 60 years old. We may have our similarities but we're two separate people. I've only been around for 28 years but I might has well have been around longer."

"What do you mean?"

"I may have been honest about the money but that doesn't mean we're innocent. What do they call murder by circumstance? Murder by association?"

"They don't call it murder."

"It might has well be," Carl huffed, his hands tensing around Markus' new legs.

He pulled away when he saw the grimace on his face.

"You can remove the strap here when you're through with them," Carl said.

"Let us know if they start hurting you and Carl can adjust them," Simon said.

Once the legs were fastened to Markus, Carl stood up.

"You shouldn't expect to walk right away though," he said. "You'll have to practice walking with those on. It might be best to walk with someone in case you fall."

"I can help," Simon said.

Markus frowned.

"I'm sure North wouldn't mind walking with me too."

Simon smiled smugly, his gleaming in challenge.

"Then we can take turns then. It's all for the best anyway," he said before he frowned looking away. "I'm a busy man."

Something about the way he said it sounded rancorous.

Despite everything he had said about Simon being easy to read, Markus was unsure what to make of his behavior.

Parts of it made it seem like Simon might like him like he hadn't been a last minute thought. Then there was times like these where Simon made him feel like trash, like he was merely an added inconvenience or annoyance.

It was at times like these that Markus wondered whether or not Simon had regretted saving them at all. He already felt useless, weak without his legs. What could he do? He couldn't even help his father fight those androids before they were kidnapped by those cannibals. Even staying here the only thing he had ever did was talk with people. Why did Simon even rescue him when his father was more useful to him than he ever was? Why couldn't he just be honest with him and just admit he regretted rescuing him? North had implied that it had been a spur of the moment kind of thing. There was no good reason why he was even here.

"If it's just an inconvenience to you, you needn't bother," Markus snapped. "I'm more than capable of walking by myself, doctor."

Simon stared at him coolly.

Markus carefully got up nearly stumbling backwards before Carl reached out to support his shoulder.

"Calm down, take it easy," Carl said.

Markus pushed at him and got to his feet holding onto the corners of his bed for support.. Pain briefly crossed his face but he grit his teeth.

"Are you in any pain?" His father asked.

"I'm fine," Markus replied defiantly glaring at Simon.

Sweat beaded down the corners of his face. The pain was excruciating.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm fine," he said.

"No, you're not," Carl said carefully pushing him back in a seated position. "Is it too tight?"

"No."

"He's suffering from phantom leg pain. Perhaps we should try this on another day," Simon suggested.

"I'm fine. I have to adjust to it one day," Markus said. "No point in prolonging my stay if I can't be useful somehow."

"Are you sure?" Carl asked putting a supportive hand on his shoulder.

Markus glanced at him staring at his eyes.

It was almost as if they weren't in this h-llhole.

"You shouldn't force yourself. Look there's always tomorrow," Simon said.

Markus sighed looking away from Carl to glance at Simon.

"I'm not waiting until tomorrow. The sooner I'm back on my feet, the sooner I can leave. It's clear I'm not welcome. I don't wish to encroach on your group if you don't want me around."

Simon's expression which had once harbored malice, now was an expression of schooled indifference.

Markus didn't know what to make of it.

'Though it's not really anything I should care about. What do I care about how he thinks?'

"You're right," he said. "That's probably for the best."

Neither relief nor happiness was present in his voice. Markus thought he would have one of the two if he truly disliked him as much as it seemed but he had been fooled by a lot less.

 _'Y'know Markus, I think Simon really likes you.'_

He had thought at some point, his biological father had loved him even when the cool indifference, harsh scoldings and unjustly punishments said something else.

Markus glanced at Simon.

 _"You have a cute smile. You should do it more often."_

 _"What?"_

 _"Smile."_

'It's probably better this way.'

Once Simon had left, Carl helped Markus to his feet.

"We should try to find a place with steady railing so you don't trip or fall."

Carl lead him to some stairs that lead up to an area with a large tv hung on the wall. Some cords were hanging off the sides.

"Oh there you are, Marco."

Markus whirled around.

"Hey North."

North glanced down where his prosthetic legs were.

"Nice legs."

"There were custom made," Carl said.

"How are they?" North asked.

"Uncomfortable," Markus said. "I'm not used to walking with legs again."

"Sounds like it'd be easy to pick it up. I mean you're not paralysed or anything," North said.

"He'll have to learn how to walk again with those new legs though," Carl said.

"Really?" She inquired curiously.

"One just doesn't retain the ability to walk after losing their legs," He said.

"Of course not," North snapped. "I knew that. So Marco want any help with that?"

"Are you sure it wouldn't bother you?"

North frowned.

"I wouldn't be asking if it bothered me," she said before letting out a sigh. " I'm not what you'd call a busy gal."

Markus smiled.

"That's good to hear."

North took Markus's hands before looking up at him with a smile on her face. He returned the smile.

"Will you be alright by yourself, Markus?" Carl asked.

"I should be fine."

"Alright, be careful. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

North's eyes followed him until he was some way away. She spoke once she determined he was gone.

"So what is all this really about?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" Markus asked.

"You acted as if the thought of helping might have been a bother to me. You've never acted so concerned about it before," North explained. "Is something wrong?"

"Of course not," he said. "I don't want to sound ungrateful or anything. I just feel like I'm inconveniencing everyone. I'm useless dead weight at this point. Both Kara and Luther have been more useful but I can't do anything. To be honest I don't even think Simon likes having me around."

"Simon? What makes you think that?" North asked.

"I don't want to start anything between you two. You two are friends aren't you?"

"You can't really call what me and Simon have as friendship. It was more of a joining of common interests. If he did something to upset you, you should talk to someone about it and who better than me. Look at it this way, if he did something to hurt you, at least I could beat him up for you."

"Well there are times where I am unsure of what he thinks. Today I just got the impression that he thinks of me like an inconvenience. He offered to help me walk and then when I mentioned asking you for help, he said something that gave me the impression that it was something he didn't want to help with after all," Markus said. "I thought he might have enjoyed my company that maybe I was valuable in someway then he said that."

"You are valuable. If Simon can't see that than shame on him. I don't think you're a burden at all. Naive, yes, a burden, no. You wouldn't know how much you have changed because you weren't here before. Even if you're not involved with any leg work, your presence gives people hope. For the longest time since I've been here I've learned to hope again. I also see your effect on Solomon. You wouldn't know this but Solomon has always looked so lonely, even when I got him to talk about what happened, it didn't look like he really felt on the same page as the rest of us like he was in a world all his own," North said. "When you arrived, that was the first time I seen him look genuinely happy like he had someone he could call a friend."

Markus sighed.

"I suppose though I don't think I made that much of a difference."

"You made a difference to me."

Markus chuckled, a warm smile on his face glancing into her brown eyes.

"Thanks, that means a lot to me."

North glanced at him, her eyes narrowed and her lips curled into a frown.

"Are you sure? It doesn't seem to have made much of a difference,"

"I just got a lot on my mind," Markus said. "Carl was telling me something interesting earlier."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"My brother mentioned that my father and his friend might have killed the former CEO of Cyberlife and sabotaged the company. I didn't think anything of it before but with him making these new legs I questioned him. I had to know the truth."

"So did he?"

"No, from what he told me I don't think he did," Markus said.

"From what he told you?"

"Yeah, even though it was vague," he said. "He was still insistent that he was at fault though but what could he have done that was so wrong?"

"I don't know but that is an intriguing concept. Simon had been keeping tabs of Cyberlife's activities since the war maybe he might know something about the former CEO."

"Nah, I don't want to bother him more than I already do. I'll come across that information my own way," Markus said. "

"Listen Markus, don't let anything Simon says get you down alright," North said. "Don't let him get in the way of what you want even if you have to confront him about it."

"I'm not. I'm doing this for myself. For days I've been just laying in bed doing nothing while everyone's been working so hard. What good am I here? You can't really expect my presence to be enough."

North sighed.

"You don't have to prove yourself to anyone. If Simon can't understand that than pooey on him."

Markus chuckled.

"I'm glad we had this conversation."

"Me too. I can walk you back to bed if you'd like?"

Markus wrapped his arm around hers.

"If you insist."


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

After returning to the base and delivering the android leg to Simon, Kara and Luther had returned back to Markus' bedside. North stood at his side.

Alice ran up to Kara to embrace her.

"Thanks for taking good care of her," she said.

North looked away, a dark flush visible on her face.

"It's not a problem."

Markus glanced at North. The corners of his lips curled in a sly smile.

North returned his gaze with a pout.

Kara looked at them puzzled. The two appeared to be sending a message through non-verbal communication though she couldn't decipher what the two could be saying.

Luther's hand rested on Kara's shoulder.

She turned and saw Luther smiling.

"I think we should go."

"Alright."

Alice eagerly followed them to their reserved corner.

"So what was that about?" Kara asked curiously.

"I believe those two wanted some privacy," Luther supplied.

"What do you mean privacy?"

"Markus asked North to be his girlfriend," Alice said.

"When was this?"

"Yesterday when you two were gone."

"Way to go, Markus," Luther said, holding out his fist to Alice.

Alice returned his fist bump.

"I had no idea that Markus was interested in North," Kara said.

"Well, who else do you think he'd be into?" Luther asked.

Kara shrugged.

"I have no idea. I thought maybe something might happen between him and Simon but I guess I was mistaken."

Luther rolled his eyes.

"Why would he be interested in a creep like that?"

"Luther, honestly don't you think your dislike for him is getting a little old?"

"It's not entirely dislike, if he'd stop being borderline creepy he might be a half-decent guy."

Kara sighed with exasperation.

"We've been here for a while though haven't we?" Luther said. "Before we got here the doctor said you might recover some of your memories."

"Unfortunately I still can't remember anything," Kara said.

"You still intend on delivering that letter to Caroline?"

"Of course."

"At the rate we're going I hope it's sooner rather than later," Luther said.

"What do you mean?" Kara asked.

"Simon's been strangely evasive about it always sending us on tasks. Shouldn't he have contacted her by now?"

Kara was silent pondering Luther's words.

"It is a little strange. Maybe something happened or maybe it's difficult to contact her. Cyberlife is still after us."

"It's just as likely you're reaching."

Kara sighed.

"Fine, if it makes you feel any better we'll talk to Simon tomorrow."

"Excuse me."

Kara turned and saw the guy they had rescued address her.

"Yes."

"Can I join you three? There's nowhere else to sit down and I got food so."

"Certainly."

He sat down next to them.

"So what's your name anyhow?" Kara asked.

He sighed.

"My name is Elliot. I wanted to thank you two personally for rescuing me."

"Kara did most of the work. She was the one who wanted to rescue you in the first place," Luther said. "I was just defending her back."

Kara smiled at him.

"Well without you, I would have been dead. What were you doing in the dump anyway?"

Elliot sighed.

"In the city I was accused of the alleged manslaughter of my husband," Elliot said. "Unfortunately there was no evidence that proved otherwise. I was held in court waiting until they finally sent me to prison. I managed to escape but I was in danger no matter where I went until I heard about this place."

"You said they had evidence?"

"Yeah, the prosecutor said that the police found my fingerprints on a gun that they concluded was a murder weapon," he said. "I seen his body though. There was no blood. I thought he might have been strangled judging by the imprints of rope on his neck but the prosecution deemed me an uncredible witness because they couldn't determine if any rope had been used at all."

Luther narrowed his eyes on the man.

"You don't believe me."

"It's nothing personal, honestly," Kara said. "We've run into our own fair share of trouble. So you could see why it would hard to trust anyone."

"What did you do?"

"I don't know but whatever we did, Cyberlife definitely doesn't want the world to know about their shady dealings with the government," she said.

"I figured there was no way of proving my innocence and thought maybe I dwelt here long enough they might forget about me and this crime. Unfortunately that plan went south fast. Some androids found me and made me do tasks for them like gathering thirium or android parts. When I didn't comply they punished me."

Alice paled.

"So that's why you were in the dump?"

"More or less. How long have you three been here?"

"Don't know. Lost track of time after awhile," Luther said.

"Beats me," Kara said. "You're safe here though so you can rest easy."

"I was talking with Lucy before I walked down here. She told me you two were taking care of a girl named Alice."

"Yeah."

"She's one of the only kids down here isn't she? It must be rather boring just sitting here all day."

"It's not entirely boring," Alice said. "I watch Markus and Josh play board games. Yesterday I watched Josh play with the master."

"Who's the master?" Kara asked curiously.

"He's an old dude. I think he might be Markus' papa," Alice said.

"Lucy said you really liked the outfits on the dolls she gave you and I thought you might be interested in drawing them. Adam got me connected with some pencils and paper if you are interested."

Alice's eyes lit up.

"Really?"

Elliot nodded.

"Thank you so much."

He handed over the pencils and paper to Alice who eagerly took them off his hands.

"I wish I could have been a fashion designer but perhaps it's not meant to be," he said. "with everything that's happened."

"Why a fashion designer?" Kara asked.

"At first I wanted to do it for fun but after I got with my boyfriend at the time, my parents disowned me so I started living with my future husband," Elliot said. "He was a rich so we didn't have to worry about expenses. Every year though he'd donate to some local orphanages. We dropped by to visit and I saw the kids' clothes left a lot to be desired I guess that's what aspired me."

Elliot looked pensive.

"After we got married, he was going to pay my way to fashion college but then that happened."

Alice glanced up at Elliot with a reassuring soft smile.

"It's the thought that counts though right?" she asked.

"I just wish I could have done more."

Kara tapped him on the shoulder.

"You did what you could."

Elliot chuckled sadly.

Luther looked over to see what Alice was doodling in the meantime.

"Impressive," he softly commented.

Her face tinted with a red blush.

"Thanks."

"So what have you drawn so far?" Elliot asked curiously.

He and Kara walked over to where Alice was drawing. She eagerly showed them her drawing.

"Wow, that's some attention to detail," Elliot pointed out.

"It's nothing impressive," Alice said. "I took some ideas from the clothes from some of the dolls that Lucy lent me."

"Still to come up with new ideas from just that is amazing for someone your age."

Alice chuckled.

"Well I guess not all of it was from the dolls. My mother used to wear clothes like these all the time," she said. "She especially loved to wear lacey things."

"Wait, what do you mean used to? Are you talking about Kara?"

Alice shook her head before she closed her eyes tightly, her hands wrapped around herself. She leaned towards Luther cowering halfway behind him.

Kara saw her frown. She wondered if she should coerce Alice to talk about it or _**leave the choice to her.**_

"I don't think she wants to talk about it," she said.

Elliot looked to Kara before he glanced at Alice.

"Is it alright if she tells me herself?" he asked. "I just don't want her to be afraid of stating her opinion."

He knelt down in front of Alice.

"It's okay if you don't want to talk to me about it but please talk to me."

Alice slowly crept out from behind Luther.

"I'm sorry," she sobbed.

"It was a sore spot I'm sorry for bringing up any painful memories."

"It's alright. I just didn't want to cry in front of you. It's so embarrassing."

"I know but thanks for talking to me."

Alice's lips contorted into a soppy smile.

"I ought to get going but it was nice meeting you two again. It was nice meeting Alice too," Elliot said.

He got up and headed out.

"We ought to be heading to bed too," Luther said getting up.

"I'll come later," Kara said. "So wait for me alright?"

Luther glanced at Kara with narrowed eyes.

"Okay," he said glancing from her to Alice who still looked rather shaken from the conversation she had with Elliot.

He left leaving Kara and Alice by themselves. Kara wondered if she should **_try to comfort Alice_** or leave her be.

"Are you alright? You seem a little shaken," Kara said.

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure? You didn't look like you really wanted to talk after that."

"He was right even I didn't want to I could have talked and I should have," Alice said. "Even if I was scared to, I should have said something before he told me to. It would have been more respectful."

"It hurt you though."

Alice sighed.

"It did a little bit but after I talked it became a relief. Somehow the air seemed lighter. It's the first time I felt that way."

"First time? I guess it's always been rather tense since you've traveled with us," Kara said.

Alice frowned glancing at Kara with worry.

"Listen Kara, there's something I've been meaning to tell you."

Kara wondered if _**she should listen**_ or get Alice ready for bed.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I am an android."

"Impossible," Kara muttered under her breath.

"But it's true," Alice protested.

"I don't believe you. What's this really about?" Kara asked.

"Kara, I'm not lying."

Kara was silent turning away from Alice with a frown on her face.

"How can you say that? You're not an android. Can androids love like you can?"

"Josh is an android."

"Josh is a deviant programmed with human feelings. If he were any other android we'd be dead. A deviant might has well be a robot programmed to think and feel like a human. It doesn't mean what they feel is real."

"Then what makes me different from an android? How can you believe what I feel is real?" Alice snapped.

"I-I-"

Kara wondered if she should be honest or _**conceal the answer from Alice.**_ How could she tell Alice her feelings might not be real? That no one's feelings could really be real. That would be a cold harsh reality for anyone android or human.

"You can't can you?"

"That's not it," Kara retorted defensively. "I can answer you but I don't think I should."

"What are you so afraid of? Just admit it, you can tell me if my feelings are fake. I'll understand."

"I won't do that."

Alice screamed punching her in the chest.

"Why?!"

In a split second, Kara contemplated pulling her away or _**hugging her.**_

The answer was simple.

Still she winced clutching Alice in a warm embrace.

"It's alright, Alice. It's okay. We're okay."

Alice sobbed in her arms.

"Why can't you just say it?"

"Because it's not true. You just gotta believe me on this even if I have no proof."

"Alright," Alice said softly through her sobs. "I believe you."

Kara pulled her closer.

"I'm sorry Kara for getting mad at you."

"It's alright. You were upset, I understand."

"I still never should have done it. What would dad say?"

"I'm sure your father would understand why you did it."

"That may be true but I don't have to like it. I want to be a better person just like you, Kara."

Kara chuckled nervously.

"I'm not nearly as perfect as you think I am."

"You're perfect to me."

Kara laughed.

"Well, in any case we ought to head to bed. It's getting late."

Alice smiled sheepishly.

"Alright."

Early the next morning, Kara got up. Judging from the empty space on her bedside, Luther was already up for the day.

As she was heading in the direction of their meeting spot, she ran into Josh.

"Hey Kara, are you looking for Luther?"

"Yeah, but I have a rough idea where he is."

"Is Alice with you?"

"No, she's likely with Luther I'd guess."

"Good," Josh said. "Alice was just telling me a couple of days ago that her birthday is coming up."

"Birthday?"

"Yeah, she told me she used to celebrate it with her dad."

"I didn't know that."

"I was thinking that maybe you'd have an idea about what to give her for her birthday."

"I wouldn't know."

"Well, Lucy told me she's always playing with her dolls and the clothes. Adam told me that he gave such art supplies to Elliot for Alice. It's clear she loves clothes so I was thinking you and Solomon might make some clothes for Alice."

"What gave you the idea I was even remotely qualified to?"

"Luther was telling me you used to be a seamstress before."

"Did he also tell you I have amnesia."

Josh chuckled sheepishly.

"I may have ignored that tidbit."

Kara sighed.

'At least he told him. While he may be dull-headed, it seems Luther is not quite as dimwitted as I thought.'

"Look Kara, I'm sure it won't make much of a difference as long as you put your heart and soul into the gift."

"That's not the point," Kara said. "Next time, listen when people tell you things it might save you the trouble of getting a lecture from their significant other."

Meeting at their usual spot, Kara saw Luther and Alice practicing hitting a red punching bag that hung from the ceiling.

"If you continue to punch like that you'll leave yourself open to any attacks from the front. Always keep your fists blocking your face at all times," Luther said.

"What happens if the person you're fighting with does it too?" Alice asked.

"That's when you uppercut them."

"Hey."

Alice and Luther turned towards Kara. Luther's lips curled in a smug smirk.

"Hey yourself."

Alice smiled happily in Kara's direction.

"Hi Kara, Luther was just teaching me some boxing."

"Yeah, I saw you practicing your moves while I was coming," she said.

"You think with time I might be strong enough to protect you?" Alice asked.

Kara chuckled.

Luther looked offended.

"Who says she's the one who needs all the protection?"

Alice glanced at him.

"But you're a guy. You're supposed to be strong."

Luther frowned pinching Alice's cheeks.

"Doesn't mean I don't need protection. Who's going to save you if you're protecting her?"

Alice chuckled.

"Good point."

Kara glanced at Luther who nodded in affirmation. She turned to Alice.

They headed out running into Josh who was practicing chess with Carl.

"Josh, can you take care of Alice for a while?" Kara asked.

"Certainly."

"Alice, is that alright with you?"

"Yeah, but why do you have to go?"

"We need to have a talk with Simon," Kara explained. "Don't worry it should be very quick."

"Alright, if you say so."

"I know so," Kara said before the two headed to Simon's office.

Luther knocked on the door.

"Come in."

Both Kara and Luther headed inside.

Simon gazed at them with a smile on his face.

"Can I help you, Kara?"

"I-"

Just then North marched in slamming Simon's office door open.

"Hey Simon, what's the big idea?"

"North, can I help you?"

"You know why I am here," North snapped.

"Do I?"

"What were you hoping to accomplish talking to Markus like that?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"The h-ll you don't," North snarled. "He seemed pretty down in the dumps when he spoke to me. He seemed to think that you thought of him as a burden. Tell me Simon, if you didn't say anything why does he think that way then?"

Simon looked confused, his eyes darting to the right. Just as he was thinking about it, his eyes widened as if struck by a revelation and then he frowned.

"Oh."

"Yeah, oh. You better apologise before he does something you might regret."

"I suppose I should," Simon said. "Though I might do it again."

North snorted.

"Why would you do that?"

"I was angry," Simon said. "I acted out on impulse that's all."

"What got you so angry in the first place? Markus did nothing wrong. How can you hate him when he can't even use his own two feet?"

"Who said I hated him."

"Well, you sure have an awful way of showing your love."

"You don't know anything," Simon said coolly.

"Then help me understand."

"Are you sure you'd even want to know what irks me?"

"Of course I do."

Simon sighed.

"Well in any case it doesn't matter. I'm not telling you so you can forget about it."

North growled under her breath and marched out slamming the door on the way out.

"Screw you."

Once North was gone Simon spoke.

"So Kara was there a reason you wanted to see me? Did you want something?"

"Have you gotten in contact with Caroline yet?" Kara asked.

Simon was quiet.

"Well," Luther huffed. "Were you?"

He stood there hesitant.

"It's been over a week. Shouldn't you have at least received a message from her?" Luther asked.

Simon sighed.

"It's been difficult trying to get ahold of her. I'm sorry it's been taking awhile."

"Are you sure you're not just stalling so you can use us as much as you like to do your little errands?"

"No," Simon protested. "To be honest with you there's a bigger issue than just contacting Caroline. I said it was hard to get ahold of her but that's only the surface of it. I suspect Cyberlife already has scouted her location."

"You didn't think that was important for us to know?" Luther asked.

"You still would have to wait. All Cyberlife needs is that information you have at your disposal. At that point we might has well forget about justice then because Cyberlife will have all the cards at their disposal to get rid of our group once and for all," Simon said. "They've been bargaining on the fact that they've censored all information about their operations from the rest of the world. Without your bargaining chip, this government might has well be ruled by that corporation."

"Well at this point, we might has well be sitting ducks. Isn't there something we can do?"

"Four weeks from now. I might be able to get in contact with her during the rally."

"Rally?"

"Yeah, every so often we head to the city to hold rallies to hold a protest against Cyberlife's ground rules so to speak since they got a big amount of influence over this city and some of that power most definitely extends to the rest of this country."

"We can't stay for four more weeks, Alice shouldn't even be in a place like this where they are crooks, criminals..." Luther said.

"I know but there's no other choice."

"We could have survived out there. It would have been much better than here."

"If Cyberlife isn't parading outside this area now. You think with time they would forget about you?" Simon asked. "Sure they can afford to forget because their staff are human but they are not sending humans. They are sending androids. You wouldn't last a day outside."

Luther grit his teeth.

"Fine, we'll stay," Kara said. "If you can't get into contact with her by then, then we're scrapping your plan and that's final."

Simon sighed.

"Alright."


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31:

Connor gasped jolting awake. A loud ringing noise came from his bedside.

'What the-?'

He glanced at the phone that was ringing on the table near the bed.

'Wait, that's my old phone.'

Simon had given him another one after Connor told him he had suspected Cyberlife keeping tabs on his phone.

His new phone should have been in the drawer of the bedside table not on top of it.

Curious Connor took the phone glancing at the caller ID.

It was coming from his messaging machine at his house.

Worried he accessed his options. It could have been anyone at his house. It could have been Kamski or someone working for Cyberlife. He might regret answering the phone if it was either of those two options.

He answered it reluctantly.

"Hello?"

"Major, are you there?"

"Who's this?" Connor demanded.

"Rupert Travis sir."

"How did you get in my house?"

"I managed to disable the security system."

Connor rolled his eyes. He was beginning to think that Kamski's equipment was faulty if Travis could deactivate it with no problem. That however was the least of his problems.

"You didn't run into any trouble did you?"

"No, should I be worried?"

"Just listen to me before you go doing anything rash. I need you stay there and stay alert."

"Those machines are tailing your house too, aren't they?"

Suddenly Rupert cried out.

Connor hung up the phone. Anxiety welled up in him. He hoped he was quick before another person died on his watch.

Quickly Connor headed out knocking on Hank's door.

"Anderson, wake up."

Hank quickly opened the door. He frowned and looked unamused.

"What's got you cracking at 5 o'clock in the d-mn morning?" he asked irritably.

"It's an emergency."

"It better be. I'm usually not out this early."

"You're a machine. What kind of machine demands it's beauty sleep?"

Hank pointed to himself.

"This machine."

He sighed putting on his jacket.

"Got your gun?" Connor whispered.

"Yeah."

"Good."

With that the two headed to the car.

Hank sat in the driver's seat and Connor took the passenger seat next to him.

"So where are we heading?"

"My house."

Hank looked at Connor as if he was crazy but didn't argue.

"Alright but why your house?"

"Rupert is hiding there."

Hank sighed rolling his eyes.

"What an idiot."

"He may be an idiot but I'm not gonna let another person die on my time."

The two parked outside Connor's home. Outside his front door looked disturbed as if someone had got in without much of a struggle.

"Looks like you have company,"

"I know," Connor said with determination in his gaze.

He took out his gun making sure the safety was off.

"Stay alert."

The two got out of the car.

"Stay behind me," Hank said.

Connor complied as they headed inside.

The two looked around the house.

Hank looked around the living room while Connor walked towards the kitchen.

Rupert was nowhere to be seen.

The two walked in the hall.

Hank had searched through the rooms closest to him. He stumbled across one of Connor's guest rooms where he had stored a fish tank with two goldfish. It was as he was heading to the closet that two arms circled him from behind.

Connor opened the door to his bedroom. He spotted Rupert being held captive by a black suited android that held him in a choke hold.

Before he could make any moves, one of the androids came around the corner with a gun shoved in his face.

"Make any moves, we'll blow your head off," it said, it's voice quiet and crisp. "Drop the gun."

"Alright, you win."

Connor carefully set it to the ground.

"Step over here," the android said motioning towards a spot next to Rupert.

Quickly he headed over there.

"Are you alright?" Connor asked.

Rupert shrugged.

"I've had worse," he said.

"Did they hurt you?"

"No, one of them caught me off guard that's the only reason I'm here," Rupert said bitterly.

Now was the best time to get any answers to the questions he had wanted to ask.

"Hey, whose the leader of this ...posse? Any one of you robots know?" Connor asked.

"That's not your concern."

"In case it hasn't escaped your notice this is my house. Do you know what people call it when someone drops by your house without permission? I'd think Cyberlife would have programmed the answers but in case Kamski didn't do his job right? Newsflash it's called trespassing. So I think I have plenty of justification for asking my questions."

"Silence," one of them smacked Connor on the backside of his head.

"If we want any information, we have to keep them alive."

"Information? What kind of information? Why us? Who is running this operation?" Connor asked.

The android smacked him again.

"You really don't hesitate with those punches do you?"

He grinned.

Just then Hank opened the door with his gun held out in front of him.

"The Android Act of 2029 indicates any android model predating the RK-800 cannot possess a firearm."

He rolled his eyes at the sight of Connor being held up by androids.

"Last I checked it's against the law to trespass on someone's property without their express permission but I guess that bypasses your programming huh?"

Suddenly Connor elbowed the android holding him taking out the gun he had snagged from the android that had hit him. Intently Connor shot him holding the gun behind him.

The other android holding Rupert lunged at him. Connor shot him before he could get close.

"Took you long enough," he muttered.

Hank grumbled.

"I was held up," he said.

Connor pointed the gun in his direction.

Hank's eyes widened.

"Connor? What?"

Suddenly Connor shot the gun.

Hank turned and saw an android had got a bullet to the head.

"Guess you're not completely incompetent. I almost forgot you're a lieutenant," he said dryly.

Connor turned to Rupert.

"Let's get out of here. We can talk at Anderson's place."

The three headed out.

Once they arrived home, Hank ushered them inside.

Connor winced.

"I knew it," he said. "Do you even understand what taking it easy means or do you just not have a firm grasp on the english language?"

"Don't talk to me like I'm a child," Connor said. "You should be happy he's not dead. If you hadn't distracted him I don't know what would have happened. A little pain is nothing compared to that."

Rupert had already made himself at home on the couch.

"So Travis what will you do now?" Connor asked.

"Don't know. I figure I might have to look for another place to stay and hope they won't find me again."

"So you have no place to stay then?"

"Not yet. I'm sure I can find a place I wouldn't want to encroach on your partner's home."

"I'm sure Cole wouldn't mind you staying for a while. I can talk to him if you prefer."

"That isn't necessary," Connor cut in. "I have a better solution. I'll have to talk to Simon about it though."

"What do you mean better solution? You're not thinking of Travis staying at the outskirts of the city are you?" Hank asked.

"That's a good idea. They would have a hard time finding me there," Rupert said.

"I'm not thinking of leaving you to survive out there on your own. Simon happens to be the leader of an organization known as Jericho. He's also anti-Cyberlife."

"I know that but what does Cyberlife have to do with me? I'm being chased by rogue androids working for the DPD not Cyberlife."

"An android doesn't just go rogue without a reason. Not long ago, people had reason to believe that the reason why the war on deviancy happened was because androids were programmed to be sentient," Connor said. "Why would there be rogue androids working at the police department? Obviously someone had to program them that way."

"You think Cyberlife is behind it?"

"They definitely have something to do with it."

'It's not a coincidence that Tina and those models at my apartment wanted to capture me.'

Shock seemed to cross Hank's face before it faded away.

"I'll let Simon know so he can meet you outside."

"Alright."

After Connor got off the phone with Simon, Hank had gone with Connor to drop Rupert off outside where he was waiting before the two headed back to work.

Once they were parked both headed inside the precinct making their way back to Connor's office.

Tina greeted them before they reached their desk.

"Hey Anderson, hey lieutenant."

"I'm surprised you're here so early."

"Bit of an earlier riser. Shouldn't be shocking after I was promoted to detective. I didn't get here by slacking off," Tina said.

"Detective Chen," Fowler's voice called out.

"Coming captain," she said.

Quickly Tina came inside. She immediately caught sight of a man standing next to his desk. He had neatly parted short brown hair and thin blue eyes. He stood stiffly staring coolly at Tina.

"I heard about Officer Wilson. It's a shame he's not with us anymore," Fowler said.

"A real tragedy," she said. Even if it was all just a fault of his program she still really liked him. Wilson had been a good friend and helped her when everything went wrong. He was one of the friends that had been there to help when Gavin had been a jerk. "Who's the man standing next to your desk?"

"Oh, that's your new partner sent by Cyberlife. It's an RK900."

"That's the new updated model isn't it?"

"RK-800s have been deemed obsolete and useless at their job. Cyberlife has reason to believe it's because they were programmed improperly and still retain signs of deviancy."

"I am sorry I was unable to detain Lieutenant Bourne," Tina said.

"That's alright. Richard is more than capable of doing the job himself," Fowler said before addressing the man. "Remember your mission?"

"I am to apprehend Lieutenant Bourne without raising suspicions. Get in his good graces as you will," the man said.

"Good."

"What's his last name?"

"What?" Fowler asked in confusion.

"His last name."

"Perkins," the man said.

Tina stiffly smiled at him holding her hand out. Richard eagerly took it.

"Nice to meet you, Officer Perkins."

"That isn't necessary. I don't reciprocate the gesture."

With that Tina stepped outside with Perkins following her closely behind.

"F-ck you too," she muttered under her breath.

Tina headed past Connor's desk.

"Hey lieutenant," she said greeting Connor who was seated at his desk glancing at his computer. He looked away to catch her gaze.

"Hey," he said shyly.

Hank looked towards her to see the man following behind her.

"So who's the guy with you?" he asked.

"Officer Perkins, pleasure to meet you," Richard said holding his hand out to Connor ignoring Hank entirely.

Hank frowned.

Connor glanced at Perkins briefly ignoring his hand before turning back to his computer.

"Pleasure," he said briefly.

Perkins frowned and let out a snort.

"Don't you know it's very rude to look away when someone's talking to you?"

"He responded, how can that be rude?" Hank asked.

Perkins stared at him coolly.

"Does it look like I was talking to you, KL-900?"

Hank flinched before glaring at him as if mad at himself for the display of weakness.

Connor turned and glared at Perkins.

"If you got something to say about my partner you could say it to my face."

Perkins snorted.

"It'd be so much easier if you humans weren't so volatile."

"Maybe that's a good thing to keep androids like you in check," Connor snapped.

"Better watch your step or an android just might be taking your job," Perkins said before walking away.

Tina mouthed 'sorry' before following him from a distance.

"What a prick," Hank said gruffly before facing his partner who was oddly focused on his computer screen.

'Figures he'd be looking at his computer screen ignoring the whole thing.'

"I could have defended myself you know? I am more than capable of setting him in his place."

"I know," Connor said shortly.

Hank felt frustration well up in his gut. Could Connor even emote at all? Shouldn't he feel frustrated or even angry that Perkins talked to him like that?

It felt unnerving to see Connor looking so emotionless.

After work the two headed to their car. Hank had missed one of the turning roads that lead straight to his house.

"Where are we going?" Connor asked.

"Cole called me once we were off work. He's getting out early. I figured we can pick him up and go out for a bite to eat."

Hank dropped by Cyberlife's office. Cole was standing outside stepping in the backseat.

"About time you showed up," Cole said.

"How was work?" Hank asked.

"Terrible. Mariah was very short with me today."

His eyes caught sight of Connor's in the mirror.

"Why did you bring Connor along? You could have just dropped him off at the house."

Connor snorted.

"Why make an extra trip and waste resources? You know how many tons of waste we go through in a year?" he asked.

"Oh boy," Cole muttered under his breath. "This is gonna be a long day."

Hank parked the car and the three stepped out.

Cole headed to the shop ahead. Hank and Connor followed him a fair distance away.

"I hope you don't mind me asking this but what made you want to go out anyway?" Connor asked.

"I needed a break, a breath of fresh air if you will," Hank said.

'...and what better use for this break than using it as a better opportunity to get to know each a little better while looking at your sexy face.'

"You don't even breathe," Connor cut through his thoughts.

"Look you get the idea. I shouldn't have to explain to a human of your intelligence."

Once they headed inside, Connor looked around. It was a large shop split by the front counter. Both the left and right sides of the counter had booths near the windows.

The waitress intently showed them were Cole was seated. He had already reserved the second table by the window on the left side.

A part of Hank was disappointed by this.

'Guess Cole really doesn't want us getting touchy feelly with each other.'

Connor took a seat opposite of Cole. Hank joined him as the waitress came by with their menus.

Both Connor and Cole perused the menus.

Hank looked over Connor's shoulder at the menu.

"So what are you going to order, Connor?"

Connor shivered at the proximity.

"Don't know yet. I'm still looking."

"What looks good?" Hank asked, his husky voice causing goosebumps to appear on Connor's arms.

"Um..."

Cole coughed loudly.

Hank pulled away.

'Dang it, Cole.'

The waitress came back.

"Are you all ready to order?"

"Yeah," Cole said.

"Not yet," Connor said.

"I can at least get your drinks if you like?"

"I'll have coffee," Cole said.

"What about you, dear?" the waitress addressed Connor.

"Do you have water?"

"Yeah if you don't mind having tap water. Our machine's out of order."

Connor frowned glancing at the menu.

"Then I'll have tea."

"Alright," she said before glancing at Hank. "Are you going to order something?"

"Erm, I-"

"He's an android," Cole supplied.

The waitress blushed.

"I'm so sorry," she squeaked.

"It's fine," Hank said.

Once she was gone, Hank spoke.

"For someone adamantly against drinking caffeinated beverages I'm surprised you ordered tea," he said.

"Tea is preferable to nothing at all," Connor said.

"Still tea, why not drink coffee like the rest of us?" Cole asked.

"If I wasn't thirsty I wouldn't have ordered tea at all."

Hank distantly noted Connor looked in his direction every now and then.

Cole was making tiny noises every now and then diverting his focus to him. He looked very antsy.

The waitress returned once Connor and Cole had decided what they wanted to order.

"Have you decided what you want to order?"

"Yes," Connor spoke as he listed his order to the waitress. Hank rolled his eyes at the predictable choice of a lunch wrap.

Cole ordered a more hearty meal, a pizza with a side order of salad and pasta.

After they were finished with dinner, the waitress stopped by with the receipt left with a code of purchase for any android to send money directly to their business.

Hank replaced his LED, scanned the code and completed the transaction digitally.

"I'm heading to the bathroom. I'll be back," Connor said before heading to the restroom.

"Can you hand me the keys?" Cole asked. "I'm heading back to the car."

Hank dug them out of his pocket and tossed them at Cole who caught them effortlessly.

Connor returned minutes later.

"Are you done taking care of your business?" Hank asked.

"Yeah."

The two headed out walking to their car until Connor stopped.

Hank stopped and turned when he saw Connor wasn't walking next to him.

"Connor? What's wrong?"

"Someone's following us," he said softly.

"Who?"

"Don't know. I couldn't make them out."

"Wait, you mean you actually caught them."

"Yeah, I suspected it when we left the car. So I was looking out every now and then."

"So that's who you were looking at."

'Who did you think he was looking at? You?'

"I went to the restroom at the back of the shop to see if they would follow me. They didn't follow me but they were lurking at the table across at the booth near the window on the other side. I couldn't make out who it was and I didn't want to arouse his suspicion by walking in their direction."

"So what do we do now? You don't think one of those RK-800s is following you do you?" Hank asked.

"No, if it was an android they'd be more discreet. The person who is following me is definitely human."

"Well let's hurry and get out of here. Maybe if we're quick we'll make it to the car before that creep tails us," Hank said.

With that the two walked quickly to the car and drove off.

The next day, Connor and Hank dropped by the precinct. Connor's eyes were watery and his nose running. Occasionally he'd blow in the red handkerchief he had on hand.

The receptionist behind the front desk glanced at him with worry.

"Are you alright?" she asked after he blew his nose again. "You look terrible."

"Just my allergies acting up," Connor supplied.

Hank had supplied the handkerchief when he had dropped in for breakfast early that morning.

"Well get better alright?"

Connor smiled and winked at her.

Hank was looking at them with gritted teeth.

"Will do," Connor said.

Once the receptionist had let them in, Connor headed to his desk. A closed unsealed envelope laid on his desk.

Connor picked it up curiously glancing carefully at it. The envelope only said three words, 'To Connor Manfred.'

"What's that?" Hank asked.

"I don't know," Connor replied.

He narrowed his eyes as he opened the envelope and took out a letter.

Connor scanned over the parchment. Hank saw fear cross his expression for a moment before he gazes at him with a blank expression on his face.

Connor folded the letter and slipped it into his pocket.

"Connor, what was written in that letter?" Hank asked softly.

"It was nothing."

Hank snorted but didn't say anything.

Connor sat down and started work.

Around lunch, Hank noticed Connor was still deeply engrossed in his work. If Hank didn't say anything, he was certain Connor could be working for hours.

"Connor," he called out to his partner. "Connor!"

Connor looked up.

"What is it, Anderson?"

"We should stop. You could afford to get yourself a bite to eat after working so hard."

Connor sighed and backed away from his desk.

"I suppose you're right."

He got up from his chair and walked in the direction of the rec room before turning to Hank.

"You coming too?"

Hank sighed before getting up.

"I have nothing better to do."

He followed Connor to the rec room where the two stood next to a small round table.

Tina and Perkins were already seated at one of the round tables nearby.

Hank got Connor a cup of water and a sandwich from the fridge.

Faintly Hank heard Tina and Perkin's conversation.

"At this rate, I think my mission is a lost cause," Perkins said. "I wasn't programmed with social protocols."

"If you're expected to co-exist with everyone around here don't you think it's a good idea not to get on their bad side."

"I researched everything on the social behaviors of humans."

"Yes and one of the first things you should keep in mind is to refrain from being a giant prick. It might make people like you better."

"How was I as you say, 'a giant prick'?" Perkins asked.

Tina rolled her eyes.

"Guess you conveniently forgot that big fiasco from yesterday. The one where you smacktalked Anderson and threatened Lieutenant Bourne," she supplied.

"I fail to see how that is relevant to the conversation."

Tina groaned.

"You're impossible. I guess I have to break it down in layman's terms. Smack talking and threats are basically things that come with being a giant prick."

Richard's mouth opened agape.

"Oh, I see. I did not calculate that outcome at all."

"No sh-t, Sherlock."

Connor sipped on his water occasionally blowing his nose.

"I guess those allergies are still bothering you?" Hank asked.

"Yeah, I brought my medication in the car but keep forgetting about it."

After lunch, the two were assigned another case.

As Connor was looking at the files, a thought struck him.

"What are you thinking about?" Hank asked.

"I was just thinking of Travis. Remember when he said he was being pursued by androids that worked under the DPD?"

"Briefly," Hank said.

"The androids at my house said they wanted to take me alive for some kind of grander scheme but don't you find it odd?"

"In what way?"

"The captain, Chris, Officer Wilson and Officer Chen could have captured me anytime I was working here so why didn't they?"

Hank was silent, contemplative.

'Good question.'

"Could be many reasons," Hank supplied. "I think it's obvious even now that they don't want to make a scene with any humans that work here. They'd get alot of attention if they did something like that especially in public where everyone can see them."

"You may be right."

Some hours later, Connor stopped what he was doing.

"Anderson."

Hank looked up confused by the blank face he was greeted with. The corner of his eyes were scrunched making him look oddly pensive.

"Will you be good to cover my shift? I'll be back within an hour."

"What's the matter?" Hank asked.

"I got an appointment."

"How are you going to go anywhere without a car?"

Connor smiled.

"Don't worry about it. I'll be back before you know it."

"Alright."

He headed out leaving Hank with the paperwork. He walked quite a ways before pulling out his cellphone and calling an automated taxi.

One pulled up within minutes.

"Where are you headed?" asked an automated voice coming from the taxi itself.

"Stayput's Coffee Shop," he uttered before heading inside.

The taxi drove up to the shop in the city. Connor took out his wallet and paid for it with his card.

"Thanks for your patronage. We'll see you again."

Connor stepped out of the taxi and into the coffee shop. He walked to the front counter to talk with the lady standing behind it.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"I was told to meet someone here."

"Yes, there was a guy that came by here telling me to lead a guy looking like him to a table in the back."

The lady pointed to it.

'Something about that statement is odd. A guy came by here? Telling her to look for a guy that looked like him. A guy that looked like him.'

Connor glanced at her in disbelief.

"What do you mean a guy that looked like him?"

"Well besides your clothes, the two of you have similar faces."

A guy that looked like him? Connor had heard of something like that before. Doppelgangers is what they were. People that looked like an exact copy of you.

Curious to see what would happen if he complied, Connor sat at the table that man had asked him to.

Within minutes a man in a grey trench coat that obscured his face sat in the seat on the other side.

He removed his trench coat. Underneath his trench coat was a checked green and violet vest over a crisp white button up shirt. The most startling thing though was the fact the man had carried the same face as Connor's almost exactly. His hair unlike Connor's was disheveled and messy giving him a more tougher appearance.

"I'm here so what do you want?" Connor asked.

The man held out his hand.

"My name is Conan. I am a private investigator working for a man known as Niles Bourne otherwise known as your biological brother."

"You've got to be kidding me."

Conan rolled his eyes.

"I had a feeling you'd act this way."

"A feeling? What are you talking about? Don't act like you know me."

"Do you even know who I am? Did you even ask yourself for one second why we share the same face?"

"You are a stalker and intend to steal my identity. You're secretly working for Cyberlife and hoping to kidnap me."

"No silly. I'm your brother. Niles, is our little brother."

"You keep mentioning Niles. What does Niles want with me?"

"Is Lief Bourne your biological father?" Conan asked.

"Yes, how did you know?"

"He's our father too. After several years, I finally managed to track you down. You were adopted by Carl Manfred right?"

"I don't take on his last name if that's what you want to know."

"But you are Connor right?"

"Yeah."

"Well now he can't complain. I did my job."

"That's it?"

"What were you expecting?"

"He wanted to see me right?"

"Well I figure you're a busy man. I'll just tell him you don't want to see him," he said rummaging through his pockets coming up with a pack of cigarettes in his coat.

Connor's eyes widened.

"Why would you do that? What if I want to see him?" he asked.

Conan looked bored and uninterested. His fingers however were twitching after Connor had said his piece.

"I'm surprised. I thought you were happy where you were. Wouldn't want to reign on your parade," he said coolly.

"Of course I'm happy. Why would you ruin that? I-I just-I never knew I had two younger brothers," Connor said.

Conan snorted.

"We may be brothers but I don't have to accept you just because Niles does. I did my job and I found you that's all I'm doing. If you want to contact Niles I got his phone number right here."

Conan handed him a card.

Connor took it and pocketed it.

Conan got up and headed out waving with his head turned away from Connor.

"See ya."

'What a jerk.'

Connor took out his cellphone and called Hank.

"Who is this?"

"Anderson, you there?"

"Connor, is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me. I'm finished with my errands so I'll be heading back soon."

"No need, I already asked Fowler if you could have the rest of the day off. You looked like you could use the break."

"Great but I don't exactly have a key to your house, Anderson," Connor said.

"Don't be dramatic. I got a call from Cole. He should already be at the house so he could let you in. I'll see you then."

With that Hank hung up as Connor took the bus to Hank's home. It might has well be his home at this point but he didn't want to feel too comfortable with the scenery.

Occasionally Connor took out the card Conan had gave him to glance at it. Besides Markus, Connor had no idea that he had two little brothers.

Once he was dropped off a couple blocks away, Connor walked until he reached the house.

He got to the door and knocked.

"Cole?"

In minutes, Cole opened the door frowning at Connor. His blond hair was disheveled making it look like he had just woken up from a nap.

"What are you doing here?" he asked coolly.

"I got off work early and Hank told me I could drop by here."

Cole let him in.

"So what were you doing before I got here?" Connor asked curiously.

"I don't see how that's any of your business," said Cole shortly.

Connor sat on the couch while Cole headed to his room. He took the remote off the table in front of him switching on the TV and rummaging through channels.

Only after years of watching mystery shows on television did Connor discover most of them were horribly cliche and the mysteries very contrived. Unfortunately nothing but cliche and contrived shows were on tv anymore.

After a while, Connor found himself bored after looking for tv shows that might be interesting to watch.

He glanced towards Cole's bedroom door. Connor wondered if he should check on Cole or just take a nap.

'What could he possibly be doing that's so interesting?'

Connor got up and headed towards Cole's bedroom. Quietly Connor slowly opened his door and peaked inside.

Cole was sitting on his bed with a book spread open on his lap. He was writing maybe drawing in it, Connor couldn't really tell.

"Do you even know the meaning of privacy?" Cole hissed.

"I was just wondering what you were doing that was so entertaining," Connor said.

Cole sighed.

"I'm drawing."

"Oh, I never knew you drew."

"It was a hobby I took up after..." he said trailing off.

Connor saw Cole frowning.

"I see. It was a hobby you took up after your father learned how to cook."

Cole glanced at him strangely.

"Yeah," he replied reluctantly. "It was after he learned how to cook."

"Do you got any more sketchbooks?"

"Yeah, I don't really draw anything that interesting though. They're mostly blueprints for inventions."

"Can I see?" Connor asked.

"Yeah, most of them are on the bookshelf in the living room."

Connor came back minutes later with a pile of them. Cole's face turned red.

"Are you really gonna waste your time going through all those?"

"I got a lot to catch up on," he said.

Meanwhile at the precinct, Hank had just got off work when he ran into Tina.

"You heading out?"

"Yeah."

"Me too," she said catching Perkins walking to the charging units in back of the precinct.

"Catch you later, Tina," Hank said before heading out.

Tina headed out as well taking out her keys pressing the button on the bottom of a gadget on her key chain. On it was a button that called over her white self-driving honda that was parked in the parking lot of the precinct.

Within minutes it appears in front of her and she stepped inside. That man she had once called her father had insisted she get one. All this time her programming had insisted that the man was her biological father but androids had no genetic material like humans did.

The moment she was reprogrammed her past life had come crashing down. Things weren't adding up at all. Nothing she had done followed any logic. If that man wasn't her real father, were her friends still her friends? Was she only programmed to follow through with any instructions given to her by Cyberlife?

Small white text on the upper right corner of her screen projected her stress levels. They were at 89 percent.

Any higher and then she'd self-destruct in an act of self-preservation. Androids were not programmed to deal with human situations. Suicide was the better option that coping with it.

Still right now Hank and Connor were depending on her. What kind of android-person would abandon their friends when they needed them the most?

Tina did some research on ways to reduce stress.

'Leave the stressful situation.'

'Go to a place that relaxes you.'

First thing that came to mind was the cafe near her home. It had a beautiful mural in back of the store of a waterfall and a garden with a multitude of flowers.

Tina parked outside this particular cafe and headed inside. Outside was a 'no loitering' sign.

She couldn't stay here very long unless she had a computer or a cup of coffee at her perusal. It didn't matter anyway, she had plenty of money to buy herself a coffee even if she wasn't going to drink it.

Inside the coffee shop was sparse. It barely had any people save for a couple that was seated to the left and a guy seated to the right.

She walked up to the front counter glancing at the menu on the back wall.

"Can I have an Americano?"

"That will be $6.62."

Tina took out her wallet and was just about to pay it when someone stepped in.

"I will pay for this woman's coffee."

She moved to the side as a man stepped up in front of them to pay for her coffee.

Tina waited patiently as the person behind the counter prepared her coffee.

The man took the coffee and turned to hand it to her when the person behind the counter was finished.

She glanced at him and her mouth fell agape.

"Americano, right?" he asked.

Tina was stunned. Besides the icy blue eyes, bigger build, and distinguishable outfit, the man in front of her looked almost exactly like Lieutenant Bourne.

If Tina thought Connor was stuffy, this man's outfit took it to the next level. He wore round spectacles, a purple and yellow checkered vest over a long white button up shirt and a pair of skinny blue jeans.

"What are you staring at?" he asked coolly.

The words broke through her stupor as she finally brought herself to reply.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. You just looked like somebody I know."

"Really?" he said with dull surprise.

"Yeah," she said taking a seat at an empty table at the cafe glancing at the man. He reclaimed his seat at his table.

'Probably for the best.'

She glanced at the mural bringing the cup to her mouth to pretend sipping it every once and a while. There was still new things to spot about the mural like how the colors of the water blended so intricately together.

"Excuse me."

Tina turned and saw the man from before.

"Yeah."

"Hey, I'm sorry about before."

"What do you mean? You did nothing wrong," she said.

"I was cold to you."

"Hey, it was nothing personal right? So no harm done."

In all honesty, she didn't think he was being cold at all. He was blunt and maybe emotionally stunted but he was kind.

"Can I join you?"

"Sure."

He glanced over at the coffee in her hands.

"What's your name by the way?"

"Tina and yours?"

He smiled. It was a strained smile as if he wasn't used to the gesture at all.

"Niles."

She forced out a chuckle as he merely stared in her direction as held the coffee to her lips.

"So what do you do for a living?"

"Me?" Niles asked pointing to himself.

Tina nodded.

"I work for the FBI. What about you?"

"Nothing impressive. Just a detective working for the Detroit Police."

"Are you going to touch your coffee or just pretend to sip it?"

Tina jolted from where she had held the coffee cup to her mouth. Some of the coffee got over her face.

"I was sipping it."

Niles took a napkin from the dispenser on the table and wiped her face where she had spilled it.

"Sorry, I was asking because I'd hate to waste a cup of coffee on someone who can't drink it."

Tina looked stunned.

"I-I..."

Nile leaned in towards her.

"You're an android right?" he whispered.

"How did you-?"

"Honestly I had a hunch. Usually if you're going to pretend to sip at something you might want to tilt the cup a bit more. So if you couldn't either you were stupid or you were afraid that the coffee might accidentally slip past your lips. Only androids need to worry about liquid getting in their way you reacted to your spilt coffee just confirmed it."

Niles smiled.

"It's a normal reaction to flinch when a human touches something hot. You had no reaction once the coffee hit your face."

"You're quite a smug a-s aren't you?"

Niles frowned.

"Are you going to drink that coffee or not?" he asked.

Tina glared at him.

"No I'm not. Satisfied?"

"Then I'll gladly take that Americano if you don't mind."

Niles took it from her hands and sipped.

"My lips touched that y'know."

He pulled the coffee from his lips looking at her with an indifferent expression.

"So? Is there a problem with that?"

"At least ask a girl on a date before stealing a kiss from her."

"Do you want to go on a date?"

"No, of course not. I wasn't talking about me specifically."

"Alright."

Tina gritted her teeth as she stared at him. He seemed unaffected by her rejection and something about that gesture made her irritated.

"You're not getting out of it that easily. You stole my coffee so you're getting a date. Hand me your phone right now."

Tina held out her hands. Niles complied with her demands handing Tina his cellphone.

She inputted her number in it.

"Don't even think about turning that off. I have ways of getting a hold of you if you try to bail."

"Wasn't even thinking about it," Niles supplied pocketing his cellphone.

"Then I'll see you later."

With that Tina got up and headed out. Niles only looked at her with confusion and bafflement.

Hank had returned home when the sky was already dark. His house was dark. Neither the living room or the porch lights were on.

'They must be asleep.'

Carefully Hank opened the door without making a sound. He scanned the living room couch for signs of Connor but he was not there.

A thin light peaked from Cole's bedroom.

He walked towards his room. The door was open a couple of inches.

Hank peeked inside spotting Connor sitting next to Cole. It looked like Connor was perusing some books he had in his laps. A pile of them stood next to him. Had he been at this ever since he came home?

Cole on the other hand was looking down on his book holding a pencil. Hank knew from observing him numerous times that he was drawing in his sketchbook.

What was more surprising was the fact that they weren't at each other's throats.

He smiled, warmness filled his heart as he headed back to his charging station in his bedroom.


End file.
